Cardinals sign Scott Blewett to a Minor League deal

The Cardinals announced they have signed a reliever Scott Blewett to a minor league contract. St. Louis also announced a minor league deal I am robberswhich they did not tender last week. Both pitchers will attend big league Spring Training as non-roster invitees, although Robberse will not pitch after undergoing Tommy John surgery in May.

Blewett, 30 in April, logged a career-high 44 1/3 big league innings last season. The right-hander divided that among three clubs: the Twins, Braves and Orioles. That included two stints in Baltimore, when the O’s traded him to Atlanta in April and reacquired him two months later. Blewett combined for a 5.48 ERA across 26 appearances. He missed bats on a decent 12.7% of his pitches, but wasn’t able to convert that into many strikeouts. Blewett posted a below-average strikeout rate of 18% while walking 9.3% of opponents.

As a three-pitch reliever, Blewett leaned on his 84 MPH slider almost half the time. He sits in the 93-94 MPH range with his fastball and has a mid-80s splitter that he mixes against left-handed hitters. Blewett has another year of eligibility remaining but has no minor league options, limiting teams’ flexibility if he secures a spot on the 40-man roster. He will compete for a center spot in camp, among an inexperienced St. Louis bullpen. If Kyle Leahy wins a rotation job, the Cards would have just three relievers on the 40-man roster with a full year of service. JoJo Romero will likely be traded this offseason, which would disappear Riley O’Brien And Ryan Fernandez as their most experienced relievers.

Robberse has not yet reached the big leagues. The 24-year-old was acquired from the Blue Jays before the 2023 deadline Jordan Hicks trade. Robberse made the 40-man roster this offseason because the Cardinals didn’t want to lose him in the Rule 5 draft. He spent the ’24 season in Triple-A and was optioned to start there this year. Robberse underwent surgery a few weeks after the season.

The Cardinals declined to tender him a contract last week. That left him off the 40-man roster and sent him to free agency without exposing him to the waiver wire. Teams often use the non-tender deadline to free up the back end of the roster, often in hopes of re-signing the player to a minor league contract. (The Reds did the same with Carson Spireswho is also working back from elbow surgery this afternoon.) Robberse will target a second-half return with Triple-A Memphis and try to work his way onto the MLB radar before the end of the year.