JUPITER, Fla. -- Being hired during the offseason to take over a player development department can be a daunting task. That first Spring Training, when you¡¯re still learning staff names -- not to mention putting hundreds of faces together with names on the backs of jerseys -- can be a bit like drinking out of a fire hose at times.
Add in coming to a storied franchise credited for a continuously strong farm system with a modus operandi immortalized as ¡°The Cardinal Way,¡± and it can sound like a very daunting task. It was one that Rob Cerfolio, hired last October as the assistant general manager for player development and performance, was excited to take on, bringing ideas with him from his time with the Cleveland Guardians.
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¡°There¡¯s been a lot of learning and adapting to what did the St. Louis Cardinals do really well, how do we never lose sight of those things and how can I bring one or two new things to the environment to help us take a couple of steps forward,¡± said Cerfolio, who served as the Guardians¡¯ farm director from 2022-24. ¡°Obviously, that¡¯s not just me. That¡¯s a lot of people who have been here and a lot of new people we¡¯ve brought in to help bring that to life.¡±
Merging the new with the old could be a lot more difficult if there wasn¡¯t buy-in from above. John Mozeliak, the long-standing president of baseball operations, and Chaim Bloom, brought in at the start of 2024 to help shepherd in this new era of new ideas, are all in. So while the learning curve has been steep, Cerfolio has felt comfortable as he¡¯s gotten used to his new surroundings on Florida's east coast.
¡°The cool part is the whole genesis before I was even a fabric of a thought, the organization from ownership to Mo to Chaim, just the vision to bring player development front and center,¡± Cerfolio said. ¡°This organization pioneered player development in a lot of ways. Now our group is pouring time and investment into that, and me getting to play a part in that has been a lot of fun.
¡°Personally, I think it¡¯s exciting. We¡¯ve talked about it from Day 1 with the staff, asking them questions: Who are we? Who do we want to be? And what do we never want to lose sight of?¡±
That sentiment has filtered down to long-standing members of Cardinals nation. Cerfolio motioned toward Cardinals Hall of Famer Jason Isringhausen walking by at the Spring Training facility as Exhibit A. It might be easy to think former big league greats would be resistant to change, but Isringhausen, who spends time working with Minor League pitchers in the organization, has welcomed in new ideas to improve the system.
¡°There¡¯s been high openness and excitement for people to want to lean into that part of the conversation,¡± Cerfolio said. ¡°A guy like Izzy, who¡¯s a red-jacket wearer for the organization, his openness to how we make our pitching program better I think speaks to the type of people here and why this opportunity was so exciting to take.¡±
Camp standout: Tekoah Roby
The Rangers took Roby in the third round of the pandemic-shortened 2020 Draft and went over slot to sign the Florida prepster for $775,000. Since then, he¡¯s shown glimpses of legitimate big league starter stuff, but not consistently, while having issues staying healthy.
He was on the injured list in 2023 when he was sent to the Cardinals at the Trade Deadline for Jordan Montgomery and Chris Stratton. Shoulder issues limited him to 58 1/3 innings in ¡®23 and just 38 1/3 a year ago, though the Cards still added him to their 40-man roster during the offseason. If how he¡¯s looked this spring is any indication, he¡¯s looking to reward the organization¡¯s faith in 2025, when he could be called upon to make his big league debut. The 23-year-old right-hander allowed three earned runs on six hits over nine Grapefruit League innings while striking out 10 (vs. only two walks). His fastball averaged over 96 mph in those outings (according to Synergy) and missed a lot of bats, while he¡¯s also landed his plus curve and solid slider for strikes.
¡°The steps he¡¯s made with his arsenal and where he¡¯s going is really exciting, with the potential to be a starting pitcher with multiple plus pitches,¡± Cerfolio said. ¡°And now it¡¯s about how we make sure we get that version of him consistently over the entire course of the season. He deserves a shoutout for the work he did in the offseason to come in ready and that was on display in some Major League games. His stuff has been electric all camp.¡±
Breakout candidate: Raniel Rodriguez
While Rodriguez is already No. 8 on the Cardinals¡¯ Top 30, he¡¯s yet to play in the United States and may not be all that well known outside of Cards-related circles ¡ yet.
The 18-year-old backstop signed for $300,000 in April 2024, then went out and put up an impressive .345/.462/.683 line in the Dominican Summer League. DSL stats need to be taken with a grain of salt, but it also shouldn¡¯t be ignored that his name was all over the league¡¯s leaderboard in a host of categories, all the more impressive given the demands of his position, where he threw out 32.4 percent of potential basestealers during his debut. There¡¯s work to be done on the rest of his defensive game, but he¡¯s already showing an ability to take in new information from some of the new Cardinals instructors and putting it to use. That includes Larry Day, the director of player development who came with Cerfolio from the Guardians and has a vast catching background, and new catching coordinator Ethan Goforth.
¡°I¡¯m far from a good evaluator, but I would have to think if he was in the Draft this year as a high school senior, he¡¯d be getting a lot of attention for what he can do offensively and the fact that he catches,¡± Cerfolio said. ¡°That position is really hard to learn and he¡¯s taken to some of the new things that we¡¯ve been doing right out of the chute and already shown some progress.¡±
Something to prove: Cooper Hjerpe
Since Hjerpe was the Cardinals¡¯ first-round pick out of Oregon State in 2022, the left-hander has shown he can be a very effective starting pitcher, with a career 3.38 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and .176 average-against heading into the 2025 season. He just hasn¡¯t done it across enough innings to establish full confidence he can fit into a rotation long term. The lefty has just 93 1/3 total professional innings under his belt, as he had loose bodies removed from his elbow in 2023 and hit the injured list again with elbow inflammation shortly after getting promoted to Double-A in '24. He wants to go out and prove he can handle the workload.
¡°He¡¯s a guy that really wants to start,¡± Cerfolio said. ¡°Being able to see him in that role and hopefully throw 100+ innings and then be a huge option for those guys as a starting pitcher, our group has already put a bunch of time and thought into how we get that outcome. He¡¯s going to be a huge part in getting there.
"Hopefully we see him add to the total number of innings he threw last year and really put himself in the upper levels to be a candidate to be a Major League starter. There are a ton of pathways for that guy to create Major League impact.¡±
What¡¯s new: Pitch shapes
One of the areas in which Cardinals fans might see the impact of new voices in the player development department is on the mound.
¡°With new pitching leadership and philosophy, a handful of players could showcase new pitches to further complement and add options to their arsenals in the upcoming season,¡± Cerfolio explained.
So don¡¯t be surprised if you start seeing more two-seamers from top pitching prospect Quinn Mathews or a new cutter/slider from reliever Matt Svanson.