A dragonpit in St. Louis? Why the Cardinals bullpen could be nasty

Opening Day for the St. Louis Cardinals is always special. Bring on the Clydesdales, plethora of championship trophies, freshly pressed red jackets, and the sights and sounds of a franchise that does opening day like no one else. We all know the huge storylines; they’ve been covered on this site and others in a way that truly benefits fans. In an effort to round out that coverage, let’s ask ourselves an interesting question — how good will the bullpen be?

The modern bullpen has evolved away from LOOGYs and into the dragon pit from Game of Thrones. Seemingly every pitcher that comes out of the pen throws 100 mph with nasty breaking stuff. The Cardinals have their share of dragons in the pen, and it stands to reason that this could be an underrated strength of the team this year.

The established pieces in the Cardinals pen will carry the load

Let’s start with the largest dragons in the pen. It’s not quite to the level of Balerian the Black Dread, but these guys shove. The trio of JoJo Romero, Riley O’Brien, and Matt Svanson enabled trades of some of the bigger-name pen pieces last season. (Wow, could that Helsley trade have gone any better? He was truly horrific for the Mets.) In my opinion, Matt Svanson may be, pound for pound, the most talented pitcher on the roster. If he builds on a strong first season, he could easily be the closer for this team by the end of the season. JoJo Romero has been quite consistent for this team (and could consistent his way right into a trade at the deadline), while Riley O’Brien is flinging Ultimate Frisbees towards the plate and daring guys to hit them. Bullpen performance is notoriously volatile, but these three should provide a solid foundation.

The rest of the bullpen will determine just how good this group is

Ryne Stanek is the lone free agent pickup in this group. He had some stellar years with the Astros and, in his mid-30s, could provide good value on an inexpensive contract. Cardinals Grand Poobah Chaim Bloom appears to heavily believe in not spending much on the bullpen. I’m incredibly grateful for that — let’s never go down Brett Cecil Boulevard again! Matt Pushard, George Soriano, and Justin Bruihl are lesser-known names, but Bloom has a penchant for finding undervalued guys.

A returning name holds some promise though. Chris Roycroft cleaned up many of his location issues in the spring and added break to his sinker. The big righty is straight from central casting when it comes to a bullpen role, and the movement profile on his pitches is one that the organization has been clearly loath to part with.

Help may be on the horizon, too

Luis Gastelum and his gravity-defying changeup have the organization abuzz with his performance in camp and the WBC. The club announced recently that Tink Hence would pursue a bullpen path in Memphis, seeking better health. There are real names on the horizon to bolster the crew in St. Louis, and the much-improved player development team may pump out reformed starters and cast-offs seemingly at will.

For a group that was a net positive last year, that performance needs to continue if this team is going to mount a surprise bid for a Wild Card spot. While that doesn’t seem likely, the combination of arm talent in the bullpen and philosophical approach from the front office seems to have given birth to a bullpen that could be good this year — and beyond.