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Aug 28, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Chaim Bloom, Chief Baseball Officer of the Boston Red Sox on the field before the game between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images Winslow Townson-Imagn Images

Chaim Bloom’s Latest Cardinals Bet Has Sky-High Potential

Originally posted on St. Louis Cardinals on SI
By Patrick McAvoy | Last updated Feb 6, 2026 10:26 AM ET

There's a lot of much-deserved hype around the St. Louis Cardinals' farm system right now.

Most of the buzz has been around No. 1 prospect JJ Wetherholt, who will be in big league camp with the team in Spring Training, fighting for a spot on the major league roster. But the hype doesn't stop at Wetherholt. St. Louis already had a few intriguing prospects, including No. 2 prospect Liam Doyle and No. 3 prospect Rainiel Rodriguez, among others. But St. Louis' veteran exodus has loaded the system with high-end prospects. So much so that Baseball America currently has the club's farm system ranked as the second-best in baseball. In comparison, St. Louis was at No. 18 in 2025.

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Of all of the prospects in the club's farm system, there is no player more unique — including Wetherholt — than switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje. The Seattle Mariners traded him to St. Louis in the Brendan Donovan deal after reports surfaced indicating that the club wanted him to focus on throwing right-handed. Chaim Bloom hasn't closed the door on anything since the deal.

Overall, the deal was great on paper for St. Louis. It's a gamble trading an All-Star like Donovan away, but the Cardinals landed three prospects, including Cijntje, plus two draft picks.

The Cardinals have a potential star on their hands

Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

The 22-year-old boasts an upper-90s fastball and does something that very few people in general can do. That's why he's so unique. While there are questions about his long-term pitching both ways, the perception of him is still high. So much so that ESPN's Bradford Doolittle and David Schoenfield said that he can be the "strikeout starter" the Cardinals need.

"Cijntje is famous for being a switch-pitcher, although a recent report said he was going to focus on throwing just right-handed this spring, the side where his fastball runs into the upper-90s," Doolittle and Schoenfield wrote. "That clearly appears to be his future, as he wasn't even effective in lefty-on-lefty matchups in the minors last season, allowing a .596 OBP and 1.114 OPS, walking 16 of the 47 batters he faced.

"Indeed, while he has that explosive fastball that carries well up in the zone, plus a wipeout slider, Cijntje wasn't that effective on right-on-lefty matchups either, as left-handed batters hit .252/.372/.473. The fastball/slider combo absolutely crushed right-handed batters (.480 OPS), but add it up and the issues against lefties plus suspect control (4.2 walks per nine) mean there's a lot of reliever risk here. Still, this is the kind of pitcher the Cardinals should be going after. Their rotation has lacked premium velocity and strikeout pitchers for a long time, and if Cijntje can improve his command and changeup, he has a chance to be that strikeout starter the Cardinals need."

This guy was a first-round pick in 2024 and made it to Double-A in 2025 in his first professional season. Seattle also knows how to develop pitching, so getting a guy from its system is a positive. Cijntje is someone who Cardinals fans should get to know now.

This article first appeared on St. Louis Cardinals on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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