Chaim Bloom's weakness from Boston days is rearing its ugly head with the Cardinals

When the St. Louis Cardinals hired Chaim Bloom as a special assistant to John Mozeliak in January of 2024, fans were happy that an outside voice was coming in to provide input on an antiquated organization. Bloom didn't come without concerns from some, though. The two primary complaints or concerns around Bloom revolved around him trading Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers and his tendency to treat pitching prospects with kid gloves. The second concern is starting to rear its head in 2026 in St. Louis.

Bloom trading Mookie Betts has been covered extensively: His hand was forced by ownership to cut costs. While the return didn't pan out well for Boston, the trade wasn't Bloom's choice, and he took the best offer he could get.

In regard to Bloom being overly cautious with pitching prospects, Cardinals fans are starting to see that firsthand this year.

One of Chaim Bloom's weaknesses from Boston is starting to become evident with the Cardinals.

After a doubleheader sweep at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday, Bloom's roster decisions came into serious question for perhaps the first time since he was anointed President of Baseball Operations. The Cardinals promoted pitchers Bruce Zimmermann and Jared Shuster to cover innings after Michael McGreevy needed some extra rest before the All-Star Break.

While the Cardinals' minor league teams have experienced various injury woes (Richard Fitts and Tekoah Roby, for example), the major league roster has been quite healthy for several years now.

Quinn Mathews, one of the Cardinals' best pitching prospects, has seen an uptick in results lately. He's played in Triple-A for a year now, and he's more than likely ready to test his stuff out in the majors.

Rather than call up Mathews, a move that would require a 40-man roster decision, Chaim Bloom opted to roll out Bruce Zimmermann and Jared Shuster. Zimmermann, interestingly enough, was designated for assignment after the first game of the double header on Tuesday.

Brycen Mautz was another potential option, as he had only pitched seven innings in 17 days. Mautz threw two innings on Sunday instead of Saturday, so he was unavailable to pitch in St. Louis on Tuesday or Wednesday had McGreevy pitched in one of the two games on Tuesday.

Bloom's insistence on being gentle with pitching prospects is beginning to hamper the momentum that the 2026 Cardinals have developed. Virtually all of the club's pitching prospects are on strict pitch counts so far this year.

Mathews has yet to eclipse 90 pitches in an outing this year. Braden Davis hasn't thrown more than 85 pitches. Brycen Mautz and Mason Molina haven't surpassed 90 pitches. Last year's first-round pick, Liam Doyle, hasn't thrown more than 85 pitches in an outing this year. Each of these pitchers was accustomed to high pitch counts in college, but they've been stifled as prospects thus far.

Michael McGreevy's start being pushed back, along with several delays for Dustin May since his complete game on June 15th and rest worries for Kyle Leahy and Matthew Liberatore, has hurt the Cardinals' pitching depth and bullpen production. St. Louis relievers have pitched in the sixth-most games (306) and have logged the 15th-most innings (335.2) in MLB this year.

Chaim Bloom's presence in St. Louis has been refreshing thus far; he has a clear direction for the franchise after years of floating in the middle. He's been working well on the margins and seemingly making key roster decisions at the right time. His insistence on holding back minor league pitchers, however, is starting to take a toll on the major league roster and the team's winning efforts.

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