Opening Day is less than a month away. As teams ramp up for the upcoming season, injuries will happen. Unfortunately, the injury bug has hit the St. Louis Cardinals' camp in Jupiter, Florida. Reports broke Sunday that the team will lose relief pitcher Zack Thompson for at least the next 3-4 weeks. The injury is a tear in the left side lat muscle, according to Cardinals beat writer Derrick Goold on X, formerly Twitter.

“Zack Thompson has a tear in his lat muscle on the left side,” posted Goold on the social media site. “Will be away from throwing for 3-4 weeks, then reevaluated, says #stlcards.”

While the Cards have the depth to withstand this loss for the time being, it will still sting. Thompson is a former first round pick of the organization and has grown into one of manager Oli Marmol's most trusted arms in the bullpen. It will now be up to arms like Gordon Graceffo, John King and others to pick up the slack in front of closer Ryan Helsley. For a team that is in transition from one contending phase to another at the moment, losing a talented bullpen arm like Thompson won't make the beginning of the upcoming season any easier. Can St. Louis overcome this blow and get off to a fast start?

Cardinals bullpen takes big blow as Opening Day approaches

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Even though St. Louis is undergoing some major organizational changes this season, the goal remains the same: make it to the postseason and compete to win a World Series. Although this current Cardinals team would have a tough time with that quest, there's no doubt that Marmol and his team would try and do just that. As new incoming head of baseball operations Chaim Bloom continues to make his mark on one of baseball's storied organizations, one thing is clear: there will be more change to get the Cardinals back to October.

Nevertheless, losing Thompson for at least a few weeks is a tough pill to swallow. The Cards will likely be in their fair share of low scoring matchups this season, and having an experienced arm like Thompson is very useful. Yet, as the team moves into its next phase, maybe giving young arms like Graceffo and Matthew Liberatore a chance to spread their wings might be just what the doctor ordered. For a team as storied as the Cardinals, it feels like postseason success is never too far away. Perhaps that success will begin again in 2025.