Friday, October 10

ST. LOUIS -- Working in the background, where he prefers to operate while studying reams of biomechanical data, analyzing pitching arm angles and hitter swing paths and load profiles, Rob Cerfolio has emerged as a key contributor to a Cardinals club that continues to surprise because of the many promising gains made by various players.

Cerfolio, the 32-year-old Yale grad who is still considered to be one of the favorite players former Cardinals pitcher John Stuper ever coached collegiately, was the first hire by future Cards president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom. Cerfolio was hired away from the Guardians to be St. Louis’ new assistant general manager for player development and player performance -- a wide-ranging role that has him working with current Cardinals Brendan Donovan, Matthew Liberatore and Gordon Graceffo and Minor League pitcher Matt Svanson one day, or budding baby Birds such as Quinn Mathews, Tekoah Roby or rapidly blossoming 18-year-old catcher Rainiel Rodriguez the next.

When Graceffo threw the seven fastest pitches -- including two four-seam fastballs that touched 98.9 mph -- in a Cardinals win over Cincinnati on April 30, one of the first people he texted afterward was Cerfolio, who had been collaborating with pitching coach Dusty Blake and director of pitching Matt Pierpont to study ways to make his unorthodox pitching delivery more efficient. When Svanson ended the Cards’ victory over the Phillies on May 14 by getting a check-swing strikeout of superstar slugger Kyle Schwarber with a nasty sweeper, he personally offered thanks to Cerfolio for helping him cultivate a whole new plan against lefty hitters.

And when Mathews -- the 2024 Minor League Pitching Prospect of the Year -- got off to a rocky start to the 2025 season, the lefty quickly credited Cerfolio and Pierpont for their patient and measured approach to backing him off from the daily grind and doing a deep dive on his mechanics.

“It’s fun to have those text conversations with the guys the next morning,” said Cerfolio, who watches most home games from the seats behind home plate at Busch Stadium. “The conversation with Svanson or with [Michael] McGreevy after his big league start or interacting with [Donovan] or [catcher Pedro Pagés], it’s that gratification of seeing the reaction of the player when that light-bulb moment happens. When you maybe help them see something they didn’t see before, it’s always fun when it translates to immediate success. Then, when it takes longer, you still stick to your process, even when it takes longer.”

It hasn’t taken Cerfolio long to ingratiate himself within the Cardinals’ front office and show why Stuper raved about him as a gritty left-handed pitcher at Yale. It’s become clear why the Guardians kept promoting him because they saw him as a star on the rise in baseball. Bloom, who is working in an advisory role in 2025 and will take over for John Mozeliak in ’26, felt so confident in Cerfolio’s abilities that he pursued him again last fall -- even though Cerfolio had turned him down four years earlier, when Bloom was Boston’s baseball boss.

“Chaim’s a big reason why I wanted to take this job,” Cerfolio said. “So many of my favorite stories now are getting a chance to work with [Bloom] every day and seeing his care factor for people and high-quality process.”

It's been quite the process for Cerfolio to get to this point in his baseball journey. A left-handed pitcher, Cerfolio was picked by the Dodgers in the 34th round of the 2013 MLB Draft but returned to Yale, only to miss his senior season because of an arm injury. He was coaxed into the front-office side of baseball by Stuper, who won a World Series game for the Cardinals during their championship season of 1982.

With a grandfather and father who were surgeons and a mom who was a nurse, Cerfolio majored in pre-med at Yale and was presumably headed to medical school before accepting an internship with Cleveland in 2015. As it turns out, he never gave the family business another thought and stuck with baseball, where he melded his eye for talent with his love for process and his endearing people skills.

Listen to Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol talk about Cerfolio for just a few minutes, and you quickly understand why the newcomer is already a rising star within the organization.

“He’s done a really nice job. He’s a sharp dude, but he’s also so relatable,” Marmol said. “The best part is the communication that [Bloom and Cerfolio] have created between the big league staff and the Minor League staff, so that there’s continuity. Rob’s ability to manage all of that while having such a good understanding of personalities is great. He knows when to push and when not to, and that’s allowed for some real progress.”

Triple-A Memphis: Cerfolio and the Cards were delighted to see Mathews (the organization's No. 2 prospect, per MLB Pipeline) pitch well in his first rehab start on Monday in the Florida Complex League. The lefty, who rose through four Minor League levels in 2024, struck out four of the seven batters he faced over two innings, while allowing just one hit.

Double-A Springfield: Nathan Church, an 11th-round Draft pick in 2022 out of UC Irvine, is having a breakout season thus far. The 24-year-old entered Tuesday with team highs in batting average (.354), OPS (.994) and home runs (four), while also smacking seven doubles and driving in 11. Even after recording nine outfield assists in 2024, baserunners continue to test the arm of St. Louis' No. 21 prospect, who has already thrown out two baserunners.

High-A Peoria: Zach Levenson (No. 29), a former star slugger at the University of Miami, was activated off the injured list on Tuesday and promptly homered twice.

Rookie FCL Cardinals: Rodriguez, the No. 7-ranked player in the system, was named the Florida Complex League Player of the Week following his strong start to the season. In his first 12 games, Rodriguez hit .389 (14-for-36) with six home runs and 12 RBIs. He was signed for $300,000 in April of 2024 and he dominated the Dominican Summer League last year.

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