Bruce Zimmermann Designated for Assignment After One-Day Stint

Cardinals Designate Bruce Zimmermann for Assignment After One-Day Stint

The Cardinal Chronicle
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

Bruce Zimmermann’s stay on the St. Louis Cardinals’ active roster was brief, but it was not meaningless.

The Cardinals designated the veteran left-hander for assignment between games of Tuesday’s doubleheader against the Milwaukee Brewers, ending a single-day roster stint that began with a morning call-up and ended with an afternoon roster move.

Zimmermann was selected from Triple-A Memphis before Game 1 to give the Cardinals length and bullpen protection during a demanding doubleheader against the first-place Brewers. He did exactly what the Cardinals needed him to do.

Working behind opener Matt Svanson, Zimmermann covered five innings in relief, allowing three earned runs on six hits while striking out two. It was not a dominant outing, but it was valuable. On a day when St. Louis needed someone to absorb innings and keep the bullpen from being overexposed, Zimmermann gave the club bulk coverage.

That matters in a doubleheader.

The move, however, also showed the reality of roster management in July. After Game 1, the Cardinals needed a fresh arm for the nightcap and selected the contract of left-hander Jared Shuster from Triple-A Memphis. To create the necessary 40-man roster spot, Zimmermann was designated for assignment.

It was a harsh transaction, but not an unusual one.

Zimmermann’s situation was always complicated by the fact that he is out of minor-league options. Once the Cardinals selected his contract, they could not simply send him back to Memphis after the game. If he was not going to remain on the active roster, he had to be exposed to waivers.

Now the process begins.

If another club claims Zimmermann, the Cardinals will lose the veteran left-hander. If he clears waivers, St. Louis could outright him back to Triple-A Memphis, where he would remain valuable organizational depth.

Before the call-up, Zimmermann had pitched well for Memphis, posting a 5-3 record with a 3.78 ERA and 84 strikeouts over 78.2 innings. That production earned him the look in St. Louis, and it may still make him useful to the Cardinals if he remains in the organization.

The transaction also says plenty about where the Cardinals are right now.

They are trying to survive a critical stretch before the All-Star break, including a five-game series against Milwaukee and a weekend set with Atlanta. Pitching depth is being tested. Bullpen usage matters. Every roster spot is being treated like a moving part.

Zimmermann became part of that roster carousel.

He was called up to provide innings. He provided them. Then the Cardinals moved on to the next arm because the schedule demanded it.

That may not be fair, but it is baseball in July.

For Zimmermann, the immediate future now depends on waivers. For the Cardinals, the goal remains the same: get through this stretch with enough pitching to stay competitive and enough flexibility to keep adjusting.

Bruce Zimmermann’s one-day stop in St. Louis may not be remembered for long.

But for five innings in Game 1, he gave the Cardinals exactly what they needed — and sometimes, in the middle of a doubleheader, that is the whole job.

The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
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Photo Credit: Bruce Zimmermann, St. Louis Cardinals | Getty