The St. Louis Cardinals exceeded expectations during the first half of the season, putting together a solid campaign despite beginning a rebuilding phase under Chaim Bloom. As the second half gets underway, the club will look to maintain its momentum.
Over the past few months, St. Louis has strengthened its pitching depth, adding several arms capable of providing organizational support. Among those additions was veteran right-hander who signed a minor league contract during the offseason.
Blewett’s agreement included an opt-out provision, and according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the right-hander has decided to exercise that clause, making him eligible to pursue opportunities as a free agent.
Blewett began his major league career with the Kansas City Royals in 2020 and went overseas after the 2021 season. The right-hander returned in 2024 after joining the Minnesota Twins.
In 2025, he bounced around between the Twins, Atlanta Braves and Baltimore Orioles, posting a 5.46 ERA. For his career, he is 4-1 with a 4.21 ERA in 43 appearances.
As Goold mentions in his post on X, the Cardinals do not need to make a roster move here. Blewett can simply elect free agency, and the Cardinals can find other ways to fill the 40-man roster spot.
With Triple-A Memphis, the 30-year-old right-hander went 4-1 and posted a 5.18 ERA and 1.66 WHIP is 37 appearances, two of which were starts. He showed promise with his strikeouts, but wasn’t quite able to replicate that success in other areas, which likely played a role in him never being called up to St. Louis.
Blewett was selected by the Royals in the second round of the 2014 draft. He has never quite caught on with a major league team.
But his time with the Cardinals organization is likely at an end. It will be interesting to see if another team decides to take a chance on him as a depth piece for their bullpen. The Cardinals simply did not have much of a fit for him, but his ability to record strikeouts might have some other teams interested in picking him up as a depth option.
The Cardinals still have plenty of pitching depth in their system and can easily fill the spot on the 40-man roster with somebody else. Blewett showed some upside in spring training, but ultimately never found a spot for himself on the Cardinals active roster.
