4 young Cardinals pitchers who could benefit from a bullpen role, 3 who would not

The St. Louis Cardinals have some tough decisions to make as spring training winds down — which young arms make their roster, and which are sent back down to the minor leagues?

Well, that decision wouldn't be as difficult if the club would pull the plug on certain veterans in their rotation or trade one or two away to starting pitching-needy teams.

Alas, I've broached that subject a number of times already and will continue to do so as long as it continues to not make sense. But today I do want to take a look at how the Cardinals should handle this reality they have created for themselves. If they intend to hold onto all of these arms and they remain healthy by the time Opening Day comes around, how should they handle the roles and assignments for their young starting pitchers?

There are three different roles the Cardinals could assign each of these young arms to over the coming weeks:

1. The MLB rotation
2. The Triple-A rotation
3. The MLB bullpen

But when it comes to each of the young starting pitchers, there are some who may actually benefit from a role in the Cardinals bullpen this year and others whom it would do more harm than good for. Let's take a look at how the Cardinals should be looking to handle these bullpen assignments this year.

Gordon Graceffo may be ready to excel in a bullpen role for the Cardinals.

Once one of the most promising starting pitching prospects in the Cardinals organization, Graceffo has fallen in the pecking order of their top prospects, but that doesn't mean his future as a starter is completely over. For now though, Graceffo's best route to a role at the Major League level is out of the bullpen.

Graceffo has been battling for one of those bullpen spots all camp and has vocalized that one of his goals this year is to simply make the Major League roster and stick the entire season, regardless of the role they assign him to. Graceffo is willing to take on a role as a reliever, and long term, it may actually be a better fit for him as a player.

After putting in work at Tread Athletics this offseason, Graceffo is hoping to have better command and more consistent fastball velocity after struggling with both over the past two seasons. He was the Cardinals' Minor League Pitcher of the Year back in 2022 but really hasn't reached those heights since then.

Many believe Graceffo's stuff would actually play up in shorter stints out of the bullpen, and it appears as though the Cardinals want to see what that could look like as well.