Cardinals’ Blake Aita Works To Expand Repertoire
Among the armful of young pitchers the Cardinals acquired via trade this offseason were two future rotation hopefuls.
One is high-ceiling lefthander Brandon Clarke from the Sonny Gray trade. The other is 22-year-old righthander Blake Aita, a product of the Willson Contreras deal, who brings intriguing ingredients for the team’s updated and expanded pitching development apparatus to amplify.
And he has already started that process.
Aita logged 115.1 innings for Boston’s Class A affiliates last season, one year after being drafted in the sixth round out of Kennesaw State.
At the time of the trade, Aita was deep into the Red Sox’s offseason plan for him when he found out about the trade. He spent his first pro season chasing new pitches, including a splitter, and crisper pitch shapes.
“So, I got kind of east and west with the changeup, the sweeper, the cutter and then I also have the curveball and the fastball to go north to south,” Aita said.
“I had to learn how to get away from being that east-west pitcher and only good against righties. Now I can get both (sides of the plate) out and work east, west, north, and south for whatever I need to do.”
Aita, pronounced “eye-dah,” recorded a 3.98 ERA in 23 games (19 starts) in 2025. He struck out a total of 99 in 115.1 innings. He described how there were moments when he prioritized pitch use—drilling on a specific pitch, regardless of count or situation—over trying for the strikeout.
A goal for this season is putting his new mix of pitches together with a two-strike approach that will exploit his feel for spin and yield more strikeouts.
The next step after landing new pitches for Aita is missing bats.
“I’m good at making the ball move, and I’m really good at spinning the ball,” Aita said. “My issue in college is I never had a changeup or anything to use against lefties. I think that is going to be a big thing for me next year. ”
REDBIRD CHIRPS
— At the start of spring training, the Cardinals are set to open their renovated player development campus and spring training facility in Jupiter, Fla. Delayed by several years due to the pandemic and later permit issues, the new complex at Roger Dean Stadium will feature a larger clubhouse, tech-geared pitching facility, multiple hitting locations, increased WiFi access to backfields and expanded weight and training rooms at a cost of more than $100 million.
— The Cardinals expanded their minor league staff at each level with the introduction of new assistant coach and co-pitching or co-hitting coaches. Increasing the number of coaches at each level has been a priority for new front office leaders Rob Cerfolio and Chaim Bloom, and that has also extended to coordinator positions for entire farm system as well.
