4 relief pitchers the St. Louis Cardinals should target after the lockout

There will be many options available for the St. Louis Cardinals and teams looking for relief pitchers once the lockout ends.

Getting a top-tier relief pitcher appears to be the number one item on the wish list for the St. Louis Cardinals once the lockout ends. Luckily, the market is still full of options.

After the 2021 season, it’s easy to see why. The Cardinals struggled with their entire pitching staff through disappointment and injury. While they have great options on paper, human things happen.

Currently, the 2022 relief staff is projected by ZiPS via Fangraphs to include Giovanny Gallegos, Alex Reyes, Genesis Cabrera, Ryan Helsley, Jordan Hicks, T.J. McFarland, Kodi Whitley and Junior Fernadez. Gallegos, Cabrera and McFarland are the only three fairly solid options with the rest having injuries and concerns you can only hope completely resolve by spring training.

While there will certainly be an improvement from these players, the 2021 season taught the team they must be prepared for whatever may happen to their team in a long season. It’s not rational to keep doing the same thing, hoping it gets better. Not after 2021. Not after the season ended with former manager Mike Shildt putting Alex Reyes in a high leverage situation he’d been removed from weeks earlier due to a propensity to give up game-changing home runs. Seeing Reyes give up a walk-off homer to end the 2021 season was a real gut punch.

John Mozeliak, president of baseball operations for the Cardinals, knows this and must make moves to reflect that knowledge.

While the Cardinals have been connected to names including Ryan Tepera, Joe Kelly, and others, it will be interesting to see what Mozeliak does to bolster this team seeking a huge 2022 season.

Let’s take a look at some other options available to the Cardinals.

Alex Claudio

Released in September by the Boston Red Sox, Alex Claudio had a short season with the Los Angeles Angels.

Claudio pitched in 41 games with the Angels in 2021, going 1-2 with a 5.51 ERA, one save and two holds in 32.2 innings pitched. He had 30 strikeouts. He relies mostly on a sinker, a slider, a changeup and a four-seam fastball.

Claudio has been in the majors for six seasons with a career record of 16-10 in 352 games. He’s had 14 saves and 51 holds. He has a career strikeout total of 247. Claudio could be an excellent situational, later innings option that the Cardinals are familiar with after the left-hander spent two seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Alex Colome

Alex Colome became a free agent after the Minnesota Twins declined their mutual option in the right-hander’s contract. The club will buy out his 2022 contraction of $1.25 million.

Colome started his career with the Tampa Bay Rays and had much success as their closer, earning 47 saves in the 2017 season. In 2021 with the Minnesota Twins, he pitched in 67 games going 4-4 with 17 saves and five holds. He threw 58 strikeouts.

Colome primarily relies on a cutter and a four-seam fastball. The cutter averages 89.5 mph with 51% active spin. The four-seam fastball averages 93.7 mph with a 97% active spin.

It would be interesting to see how Colome and Molina would work together. The pair could work really well together in later innings. With his cutter working, it would be certain that Colome could benefit from the Cardinals Gold Glove defense. The Cardinals may consider the righty in a later innings role.

Tyler Clippard

Tyler Clippard became a free agent once his option was declined in November by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

In 2021, he was 1-1 with six saves and three holds in 26 games, throwing 25.1 innings with 21 strikeouts. In his 15-season career, he has pitched in 803 games, going 56-48, 74 saves, and 952 strikeouts. He relies on a change-up, a four-seam fastball, a sinker, a split-finger pitch, a curveball, and a slider.

Clippard, 36, has a large pitch arsenal and could benefit from trimming down his pitch selection. Maddux could definitely find a project in veteran righty. With an array of offspeed pitches, Clippard could see some success with the Cardinals defense behind as well as Molina behind the plate.