3 options to be St. Louis Cardinals closer in 2022

The St. Louis Cardinals are starting to prepare for the start of the 2022 season. If there is a season, who should be prepping as the Opening Day closer?

The St. Louis Cardinals are getting ready for the start of the season. Well, that is if the MLB and MLBPA ever come to an agreement. Right now, there isn’t a lot going on, but it’s always good to plan ahead.

The Cardinals, who never got to complete their offseason activities due to the lockout, are hoping that the issue get’s resolved soon and can continue to get their team ready for the 2022 MLB season. In the meantime, Oli Marmol is likely planning how he want’s to manage the team he currently has.

With that, there are surely questions he is asking himself: Who is going to be the starting shortstop? Who should the Cardinals start opening day? But let’s focus on who should be the Cardinals closer.

There are a lot of different options to chose from. Last season the primary closer was Alex Reyes, but he took that spot due to default when Jordan Hicks got hurt. This season Hicks is back and is ready to re-claim the role. But that’s not all.

On top of Reyes and Hicks competing for the closer role, there are also some who believe that Giovanny Gallegos could compete for that role as well.

Quite frankly, all three of those names could be a good fit for the role, so should get it?

Debating if Alex Reyes Should be the St. Louis Cardinals’ closer

The St. Louis Cardinals finally got their former top prospect, Alex Reyes, back on the mound. After what feels like a long road to get there, the Cardinals got a look at the talent they have in him and it’s safe to say he’ll be here for a long time.

After Jordan Hicks went down early on in the season, Alex Reyes stepped in and performed very well as the St. Louis Cardinals closer. In fact, Reyes was named to the NL all-star team. However, things went downhill shortly after the all-star break.

Reyes, before the all-star break was easily one of the best closers in baseball. I mean, maybe you can say that’s my Cardinals bias, but the stats don’t lie.

Before July, Reyes was overpowering. In fact, he didn’t allow a single run in March/April. He pitched in 12 games and had a ERA of 0.00 and six saves tagged to his name. Moving forward to the next month, he didn’t show any sings of slowing down. In fact, he just further solidified his role as the Cardinals next best closer.

In May, Reyes gave up his first couple runs of the season, but even then it wasn’t bad. Only giving up two runs in 14 games, I’d say that’s pretty good. However, there was one thing that people begun to notice about his game- he gave up a lot of hits and walks that he had to overcome.

In May, although he only gave up two earned runs, had a WHIP of 1.404. Furthermore, he had 25 strikeouts to his name in May but he also had seven hits and 15 walks in 15.2 innings work. Which, given the fact that he is a closer and we were relying on him to finish the games, sat uneasy with lots of Cardinals fans.

The fact he was allowing so many hits and walks in his outings were scary, because one bad pitch and there would’ve been a different ball-game. Later that showed.

Now, there are a lot of different theories as to what changed, but it probably had to do with over usage. The St. Louis Cardinals bullpen wasn’t something to be proud of. It was very thin and limited to people you can trust. Therefore, Reyes, Cabrera, and Gallegos pitched tons of innings early on. That led to his second half stats.

In the second half, Reyes ended up with a 5.52 ERA, a 1.42 WHIP, 14.2 walk percentage, and all the while pitching 31.0 innings in three months. Not exactly the best statistics to see from a closer. However, looking ahead to this upcoming season, who much do you read into those stats.

Because of the over use of Reyes, it’s not right to look at those stats and them not be skewed, but at the same point, you can’t afford to be putting him into tight situations that could cost you the ballgame. Therefore, I’d say that with his inconsistencies, he should not be the Cardinals next closer until he proves to be reliable again.

Should Jordan Hicks be the St. Louis Cardinals Opening Day Closer?

Who the Cardinals should use as the closer is a big time debate, and quite frankly there isn’t a right answer. However, there is one thing that needs to be talked about that isn’t mentioned is that Jordan Hicks didn’t play last season. Having him back gives the Cardinals yet another arm to take pressure off of Reyes.

That doesn’t change the fact that Hicks was established as the Cardinals closer prior to the season and getting Hicks healthy more than likely means that he’ll re-claim that role but rather he should is the question that needs to be answered.

It was reported at one point that the Cardinals were interested in letting Hicks and Reyes compete for a spot in the starting rotation. Rather that was true or not, I’m not sure. However, if that is the case, I’d say they are thinking whoever doesn’t get it will be the closer.

Either way, Hicks would more than likely end up the Cardinals closer if the Arizona Fall League has any impact on the decision. Hicks did not pitch well during the Fall League when they gave him a couple starts but that’s not surprising.

Hicks is a great closer because of his plus-fastball and terrific off-speed. If you make him have to stretch out his innings to be a starter you take a plus fastball out of the equation so he can pace himself throughout the game and not blow his arm out.

Hicks, as a closer honestly, it makes the most sense. The drawback to that is the fact that he’s dealt with injuries the last couple seasons and therefore, you could be giving him the closer spot just for him to get hurt later on in the season.

If you shift your focus onto another player and getting his mindset ready to be the closer prior to the start of the season, it could be more beneficial to the player. If he’s given the nod as the closer prior to the season, he can adjust and adapt to the situation and prepare better for what he’s going to be asked to do.

You’re not going to put a starter in the bullpen and your not going to put a lefty specialist as a closer because that’s not what you ask of them. Giving your players the roles that they will endure will help prepare them mentally.

Once again, Hicks makes the most sense because of the style player he is, but I don’t know if I’d give him the nod after how he has performed in his last couple outings we’ve seen from him. That brings me to the third option.