The St. Louis Cardinals have made another roster move, officially outrighting a veteran left-handed pitcher to Triple-A Memphis after he cleared waivers. The move comes just days after he was designated for assignment, bringing an abrupt end to what turned out to be a very brief stint on the Cardinals’ major league roster.
Because the veteran has previously been outrighted multiple times during his professional career, he now has the right to reject the assignment and elect free agency instead. That leaves the 31-year-old with an important decision: remain in the Cardinals organization and continue waiting for another opportunity, or test the open market in search of a clearer path back to the majors.
His latest stay in St. Louis lasted only a single day, but it came at a time when the Cardinals were looking to carefully manage their pitching staff during a demanding doubleheader against the Milwaukee Brewers. With the club hoping to ease the workload on young starters Michael McGreevy and Andre Pallante, he was called upon to provide valuable length out of the bullpen.
Zimmermann answered the call by logging five innings in relief during the opening game of the twin bill. While he surrendered three earned runs, his outing gave the Cardinals exactly what they needed from a depth arm by preserving the bullpen during a long day of baseball. Hunter Dobbins took the mound in the second game of the doubleheader, and by the following day, St. Louis had opted to replace Zimmermann on the active roster with fellow left-hander Jared Shuster as the club continued adjusting its pitching mix.
Although his major league opportunity was short-lived, Zimmermann had earned the promotion through a productive stretch at Triple-A Memphis. After signing a minor league contract with the Cardinals during the offseason in January, the left-hander quietly put together a solid campaign, posting a 3.78 ERA across 15 starts while striking out more than one batter per inning. His consistency made him one of the organization’s more dependable rotation options whenever the big-league club needed additional pitching depth.
His appearance against Milwaukee also marked a rare return to the majors. It was only Zimmermann’s second big league outing since the 2023 season. His previous appearance came late last year when he made a lone start for the Brewers after joining Milwaukee’s organization following his departure from Baltimore.
Zimmermann’s major league career began with considerably more promise. After debuting with the Baltimore Orioles during the shortened 2020 campaign, he became a regular part of the club’s starting rotation over the next two seasons. Between 2021 and 2022, he made 26 starts and showed flashes of being a reliable back-end starter.
While his traditional numbers were never eye-catching, several advanced metrics painted a more encouraging picture. His expected fielding independent pitching (xFIP) and Skill-Interactive ERA (SIERA) consistently settled in the mid-4.00 range, suggesting his overall performance was more competitive than his ERA alone indicated. He later transitioned into a bullpen role during the 2023 season before being designated for assignment near the end of the 2024 campaign. After clearing waivers, Zimmermann eventually entered minor league free agency and later found a new opportunity with St. Louis.
Over the past two seasons, Zimmermann has also made notable adjustments to his pitching approach in an effort to extend his career. Rather than relying heavily on a traditional four-seam fastball, he has shifted toward using a sinker as his primary pitch while introducing a splitter in place of his former changeup. The evolution reflects an attempt to compensate for declining velocity, as the fastball that once averaged around 91.4 mph during his Orioles tenure now sits below the 90 mph mark, along with the rest of his arsenal.
Despite the drop in velocity, Zimmermann has continued to find ways to remain competitive through pitch movement, command, and sequencing. Those qualities helped him stay effective in Triple-A this season and could still make him an attractive depth option for organizations searching for experienced left-handed pitching.
The Cardinals now await Zimmermann’s decision. He can accept the outright assignment and continue pitching for Triple-A Memphis in hopes of earning another call-up later this season, or he can elect free agency and explore opportunities with another club. Either way, his latest transaction underscores the constant roster juggling teams face during the long MLB season, where experienced veterans often play a critical role despite spending only brief periods on a major league roster.