Cardinals' Chaim Bloom Sounds Off on 'Biggest Challenge' for St. Louis

An exciting year also won't be an easy one...

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

The St. Louis Cardinals are Chaim Bloom's team now, and the first year of his controlling tenure certainly will be an intriguing one.

St. Louis picked a clear direction this offseason. Bloom traded away four former All-Stars, and veteran outfielder Lars Nootbaar could go soon as well. That signified a rebuild, even if it's a relatively short one, and a young team with a lot of new faces will soon set sail on the regular season.

Bloom doesn't believe the year is destined to be a losing campaign for his squad by any means. But he also isn't so naive to think they can just waltz right into the playoffs with the least experienced roster St. Louis has seen in a generation.

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Bloom talks about need for consistency

Feb 16, 2026; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Jordan Walker (18) runs sprints during spring training workouts at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images | Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

Bloom was asked recently by Bill Ladson of MLB.com what he believed the Cardinals' "biggest challenge" this year would be. His answer pulled back the curtain on the general challenges of developing consistency over a 162-game season without a ton of veterans to guide the ship.

"This is a hard game. There are going to be ups and downs," Bloom told Ladson. "It’s always easy to be optimistic this time of year, and you want to be. You know you will have to roll with some punches and you are going to get hit and hit hard at some points in the season.

"... That is going to be the biggest challenge for us with the ups and downs of the season. Who are we when we are not at our best? Can we bring that best version of ourselves to the park even when things are not going perfectly?"

Bloom touched on a large group of players he thought would be key X-factors as well. Among them: starting pitchers Hunter Dobbins and Richard Fitts, rookie shortstop JJ Wetherholt, and fourth-year outfielder Jordan Walker.

It will likely take all four and some unexpected help for the Cardinals to shock the baseball world this season, but there are many different forms of success that this St. Louis team could end up achieving even if some don't involve a winnning record.