Chaim Bloom feels comfortable with the Cardinals' starting pitching depth

Starting pitching was a major issue for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2025, as the staff finished near the bottom of the league across the board in end-of-the-year statistics. With that in mind, Chaim Bloom set out to improve the pitching development from the draft and in trades, which he has been able to accomplish early in his tenure as President of Baseball Operations.

Chaim Bloom is open to more pitching acquisitions but is comfortable with the staff's current setup.

During his weekly spot on KMOX, Bloom met with Tom Ackerman and discussed many topics, ranging from the construction of the Cardinals' minor league facility in Jupiter to Nolan Arenado's trade market.

Near the 10-minute mark of the discussion with Ackerman, the host asked where Bloom currently stood on the starting talent not just of the pitchers, but of the entire lineup. The new POBO took his answer directly to the arms he has on the roster and how he feels about their current setup. Bloom said that he was happy with the talent that they have and were able to bring in, specifically referencing the signing of Dustin May and the young arms they have brought in over the past six months. I have discussed how bringing in May could impact the rest of the staff previously, talking about six-man rotation potential or using bridge arms to manage workload, and it sounds like the Cardinals will be using Spring Training to sort through the best use of their arm talent.

When speaking to Ackerman, Bloom said, "if we were to go into the season with the starting depth that we have now, we'd feel good about it, feel good that we have good options to compete for these spots," showing that, while conversations about more arm talent may be ongoing, there is no additional urgent pressure to enhance the group. With trade conversations around Brendan Donovan, Nolan Arenado, and JoJo Romero continuing, Bloom appears to be open to getting the best return regardless of position. That said, he also understands that pitching depth is important and the Cardinals have been lagging behind in their starter development for the past few years.

"“That said, you never stop looking. We haven't, we want to make sure it makes sense, whether it's a veteran fit or whether it's additional young pitching. We don't want to do it just to do it, but we've continued to look out for it.”"

Chaim Bloom

The current rotation options have last season's holdovers in Matthew Liberatore, Michael McGreevy and Andre Pallante, with Kyle Leahy looking to make the shift from reliever to starter, with trade acquisitions Richard Fitts and Hunter Dobbins also looking to make their mark on the starting pitching competition. The starting five will likely undergo plenty of adjustments during February and March in Jupiter, but it appears that fans can anticipate seeing the names currently on the roster pitching for the Cardinals when the 2026 regular season begins.