Everson Pereira has bought Chaim Bloom a little slack for Cardinals' sell-heavy trade deadline

The St. Louis Cardinals opted not to do much adding at the trade deadline, instead subtracting key pieces like Lars Nootbaar, Dustin May, and JoJo Romero from their roster in search of even more quality prospect depth. Time will tell if Chaim Bloom was right to take that path during a competitive season, but it's clear that buying Caleb Ferguson from the Reds wasn't enough to push the Redbirds into the title contender conversation.

However, the president of baseball operations did find a way to make a post-deadline move that has paid incredible dividends thus far. Everson Pereira has been nothing short of brilliant since being claimed off waivers from the Chicago White Sox, even if he is back on the injured list with a hand contusion.

Everson Pereira waiver claim is becoming Chaim Bloom's latest masterpiece

When the Cardinals first claimed the 25-year-old, I lauded the move, suggesting that the former top-50 prospect has a wealth of untapped potential that an up-and-coming team should be thrilled to try and help him realize. He has a long history (dating back to his time in the minor leagues) of getting swallowed whole by strikeouts, but with similar traits to Jordan Walker, it stood to reason that the Cardinals could help Pereira rein in the worst parts of his game.

Through his first 11 games in St. Louis, that's exactly what has happened. He's still punching out in 30.4% of his plate appearances, but that's a huge improvement over his career rate (371.%) prior to getting claimed. In fact, in the 16 trips to the plate in which he hasn't struck out, he's managed to get on base nine times, good for a .563 OBP. He's putting good swings on the ball and making (slightly) smarter swing decisions.

Combined with strong defense in the outfield that includes some highlight-reel plays, his 147 wRC+ has made him more valuable in just a few weeks in St. Louis (0.3 fWAR) than he was throughout the entire year in Chicago (0.2 fWAR).

Now, it's not like a sample this small is proof that Pereira is suddenly a perfect player. His expected stats are far below his actual results, and his contact-quality metrics like hard-hit rate and barrel rate have actually gotten worse since his time with the White Sox. Plus, the hand injury is a genuine concern, seeing as this is his fourth trip to the IL this year alone.

Nevertheless, the Cardinals have to be pleased with what they've seen from the former top prospect this far. He may never find that next gear like Walker did, but as a young, controllable outfielder, Pereira has a chance to stick around as an impact bench player for a long time.

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