Why the St. Louis Cardinals expect the bullpen to improve in 2022

Why the St. Louis Cardinals expect the bullpen to improve in 2022, starting with potential additions and players on the roster stepping up.

By now, it’s well-documented that the St. Louis Cardinals are going to add a reliever or two once the lockout ends. Among the names connected to them include free-agent right-handers Joe Kelly and Ryan Tepera, among others, and they obviously would go a long way toward shoring up a unit that is undergoing change this winter.

But potentially signing Kelly and/or Tepera are not the only reasons the Cardinals are optimistic that their bullpen, which ranked 11th in baseball with a 3.97 ERA, will be even better in 2022. As Katie Woo of The Athletic outlines, the team hopes that hard-throwing relievers Jordan Hicks and Ryan Helsey will start the season healthy while Kodi Whitley performs in a larger role next season.

I’ll add another one: that Alex Reyes, who was arguably the best reliever in baseball in the first half of 2021, will bounce back after crashing back down to earth in the second half, allowing the season-ending home run to Chris Taylor in a wild card loss against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Yes, there are a lot of “What ifs” in this scenario. I get that. But each scenario is plausible, especially signing one of the two relievers mentioned above as well as Helsey and Whitley performing at high levels. In September, Whitley did not allow an earned run and struck out 19 hitters in 12 innings. He has earned the opportunity for an expanded role, perhaps even in high-leverage situations.

Those opportunities could become more frequent if 1) Hicks does not stay healthy or 2) Reyes continues to struggle in 2022. Reyes has earned the benefit of the doubt – for the most part, he stayed healthy in 2022 and was effective for a decent chunk of the season – while Hicks has battled injuries for the better part of three seasons, throwing a combined 38.2 innings since 2019.

Hicks is arguably their greatest question mark headed into 2022, but if the Cardinals get strong performances from Reyes, Halsey and Whitley, along with signing Kelly or Tepera, the bullpen figures to be a strength and perhaps even better than it was in 2021.

Combined with their offense, elite defense and healthy rotation, the Cardinals would enter the season with their deepest and most talented roster in years. Of course, injuries happen throughout a 162-game season, but it would be hard not to think about the playoffs – perhaps even more than that – come Opening Day, whenever that may be.