Chaim Bloom has made it a priority this offseason to strengthen the team’s pitching staff and depth as a primary goal. After trading veteran starting pitcher Sonny Gray to the Boston Red Sox before Thanksgiving and returning MLB-ready Richard Fitts and minor league upside starter Brandon Clarke, as well as the recent trade of First Basemen Willson Contreras, also to Boston, for Hunter Dobbins, Yhoiker Fajardo, and Blake Aita the front office continues to pursue pitching through trades and free agency.
Even if all of the arms acquired this offseason don’t reach the major leagues thats okay because young controllable pitching is the single most sought-after commodity, and the surplus can be used to acquire and upgrade other areas of the roster that may be lacking when the time comes to compete once more. Other names on the block include Brendan Donovan, JoJo Romero, Lars Nootbaar, and Nolan Arenado.
After trading away Ryan Helsley, Phil Maton, and Steven Matz at the deadline, non-tendering John King, and all but expecting JoJo Romero to be pitching elsewhere in 2026. Chaim Bloom has publicly spoken about a desire to have a veteran presence in the bullpen to help the young relievers mature as everyday big leaguers. From the outside, they view their pitch to prospective free agents as pointing towards Andrew Kittredge and Phil Maton and point out that if you come to St. Louis for a year, you can re-establish yourself to earn a larger payday where there are innings and opportunity aplenty! If/when JoJo Romero is traded away, the team will only have fringe 40-man arm Nick Raquet from the left side on the 40-man roster. The Cardinals could consider multiple left-handed options if that indeed comes to fruition.
Chaim Bloom has staunchly been against promoting players before they are fully ready to move up, which is why I don’t view Quinn Matthews, Brycen Mautz, Pete Hansen, Ixan Henderson, Liam Doyle, etc., as options for the bullpen at the beginning of the 2026 season. Matthews is still trying to master AAA, and none of the other four have even competed in Triple-A, so they don’t know how their stuff will perform with a new variable added to their situation, like pitching with the big league ball.
When trying to scope out who could be a potential target or fit, we can look for clues in the profile of arms the team has already acquired under the new leadership’s guided focus. Going back to this year’s draft selecting Liam Doyle and Tanner Franklin, the trade deadline in acquiring Nate Dohm and Frank Ellisalt, the trade for Richard Fitts and Brandon Clarke, or even their Rule 5 selection in Matt Pushard. High octane fastball’s appear to be the vogue guiding light for their player development group. Of course, I always bring names to the table. I would never leave you, the reader, without something to chew on or consider, so here are three names from the left side and the right side who bring one of a big fastball, veteran leadership/experience, or a combination of the two!
Left Handers
Ryan Borucki
6’4 210 lbs
2025 – 39 G 4.63 ERA 4.25 FIP 3.86 xFIP 32 K 35 IP
Borucki will remind some fans of JoJo Romero as he throws his Slider 41% of the time as his primary pitch and produced a whiff% of 37.7. Overall, he had a .117/.229/.150 with a .188 wOBA against 70 LHB last season. His Sinker sits in the 93-94 range, which is plenty hard enough when batters are trying to decipher between that and an 85 MPH sweeping slider. The 10 MPH of separation between speeds works well to keep hitters off balance and produce some pretty ugly swings and misses. Borucki is probably one of the best available left-handers who offers the combination of stuff, performance, and experience left available on the open market.
Cionel Perez
6’0 175 lbs
2025 – 19 G 8.31 ERA 5.77 FIP 5.18 xFIP 21 K 21.2 IP
For a pitcher with as much octane as Perez has, he strangely generates a whiff rate below 25%, which is just a little below league average. Perez IS however, a soft contact merchant. His Barrel rate of 2.9% and groundball rate of 60.9 % would both rank in the 99th percentile if he had a qualified number of innings pitched last season. The 16.4 BB% is the real kicker with Cionel, and I don’t know how you remedy that in my limited understanding of pitching mechanics, but perhaps the Cardinals would. Sitting at 95.6 MPH on average from his fastball, he certainly fits the “throws gas” north star the front office has established. .265/.390/.324 .331 wOBA against 43 LHB last season, you can clearly tell that the walks were what bit him. The .324 SLG is more than good enough if Perez can keep the ball in the zone. Busch will keep the ball in the park, and perhaps the Cardinals could catch lightning in a bottle as Perez would be a sought-after commodity with an additional year of club control accruing just over 4 years of service time so far at the deadline if the Cardinals can hone him in.
Brent Suter
6’4 213 lbs
2025 – 48 G 4.52 ERA 4.57 FIP 4.30 xFIP 53 K 67.2 IP
I talked about Suter at the beginning of the offseason, and I believe his existence on the roster would still add a lot of value. Suter is a Harvard grad and can pitch multiple innings in relief; he can serve as an opener, and he would allow Manager Oli Marmol more flexibility with his bullpen usage. He’s one of the quickest workers in the big leagues, and that matters on 100-degree St. Louis days to keep players from baking in the sun. Suter would also fit PERFECTLY as the bullpen mentor as a reigning Clemente Award nominee. Those are all the “glue” reasons why Suter would fit. His under-the-hood metrics would make him almost the antithesis of our “North Star type.” But, while his average fastball velocity is in the 1st percentile at 87.9, his extension of 7.5 ft put him in the 99th percentile, which, as we know, increases perceived velocity and makes pitches appear to come out faster than they are because theyre being released so much closer than hitters are used to. His average exit velo against is 99th percentile at 85.8 mph, his BB% is low at 6.2%, his hard hit rate is 96th percentile at 32.9%, and he generates groundballs at a 45.4% clip. 18.2 K% is below average but not non-existent, as he’s a veteran who knows how to pitch and can get a strikeout when he needs one. There isn’t a whole lot of upside to be had in this profile, but when you value a Swiss Army knife type pitcher who can pitch in a variety of roles and situations thats valuable to a team with a young staff to help navigate and get through a full 162.
Right Handers
Ryne Stanek
6’4 226 lbs
2025 – 65 G 5.30 ERA 4.40 FIP 4.98 xFIP 58 K 56 IP
Imagine the flexibility that a roster that contained both Brent Suter and Ryne Stanek would provide! Stanek is a little bit like Cionel Perez in that his inability to throw strikes consistently in 2025 is what really hurt his overall numbers. Stanek can really step on the gas pedal with his average fastball velocity at 98.5 MPH, which had him in the 96th percentile. The 12.5 BB% doesn’t help things, and he’s a flyball pitcher – that CAN work, pitching your home games at Busch. Chaim had Stanek in Tampa Bay and knows just what he’s capable of, having experience pitching in a multitude of roles from opening to closing. Think of Ryan Helsley with Stanek. The fastball is hard but straight, but the slider is the true equalizer, generating an over 45% whiff rate! The numbers Stanek posted last season won’t get him big money this offseason, but he sure provides his next team a lot of tools to work with that could get the most out of him in 2026.
Shawn Dubin
6’0 164 lbs
2025 – 30 G 5.08 ERA 4.95 FIP 4.23 xFIP 28 K 33.2 IP
If you haven’t heard of Shawn Dubin that’s okay. Drafted in the 13th round of the 2018 draft, Dubin throws 6 unique pitches and could be similar to Kyle Leahy before Leahy broke out in 2025. Dubin limits hard contact, keeps the ball on the ground, but is below league average when it comes to strikeout stuff, generating swing and miss, and enticing batters to chase. Dubin is out of minor league options, so the flexibility is very limited, but he has 5 years of remaining control and could be signed to a minor league deal. If the Cardinals felt they could get a higher gear out of his stuff, then it’s possible they could find one of those late-blossoming gems to the already growing group of depth.
Rafael Montero
6’0 193 lbs
2025 – 59 G 4.48 ERA 4.13 FIP 4.48 xFIP 58 K 60.1 IP
Rafael Montero will give Cardinals fans Carlos Martinez vibes for sure. Coming from a smaller stature and a whip-like arm motion, it’s very tsunami-esque, so is the erratic command at times. At 14.6 BB% in 2025, that part rings true. It’s 4 pitches that all have positive traits coming out of his hand, and his splitter was a +4 in run value last season to pair with a 95+ mph heater and an above-average breaking ball as well. Montero also has closing experience, with 30 saves credited to him from 2020-2023 as a closer by committee type situation in Houston before the arrival of Josh Hader. Command will always be the biggest question mark with Montero, but for the most part, the results are there, and the Cardinals could entice him with the potential to put him in late-game high-leverage/closing situations that could inevitably lead to a mid-season trade to a contender that would return more prospects to the Cardinals’ growing pipeline.
Are any of these guys true difference makers in the grand scheme of things? Probably not. But the benefit of being in the situation the Cardinals are they can take swings on upside arms like Montero, Stanek, and Perez, but also benefit from veterans like Borucki and Suter, while also having the opportunity to give guys like Dubin a real shot at a big league roster spot. When doing some research on the free agent reliever market this weekend, these were the names remaining that stuck out to me the most, and the ones I think the Cardinals could buy low on and get really good value out of. Ultimately, what the team can accomplish on the trade market will tell the tale of what roster needs will remain heading into spring training, but be certain that more changes to the roster are coming – how soon is anyone’s guess at this point.
-Thanks for reading
