Cardinals Opening Day roster prediction as 2026 spring training gets underway

Bullpen (8) - Matt Svanson, Riley O'Brien, JoJo Romero, Ryan Stanek, Justin Bruihl, Matt Pushard, George Soriano, and Andre Pallante

For the last two seasons, the Cardinals' bullpen has been one of the club's saving graces and a major reason they've been able to outperform what their expected win-loss records would have said. They've lost a lot of talent since the trade deadline though, so this year's group is a lot more "green" and unknown than in those campaigns.

Right now, there is no clear closer on the Cardinals' roster, with names like Matt Svanson, Riley O'Brien, and JoJo Romero being the early favorites for save opportunities. The Cardinals could elect one of them as their established closer, or they could do a closer-by-committee approach where they ride with the hot hand or play match-ups late in games.

Those three should be getting high-leverage opportunities early in the 2026 season, but the rest of their bullpen is very much up in the air. Ryan Stanek, one of the Cardinals' other free agent signings this offseason, stands to be the veteran option in the bullpen who should take some of those opportunities. Matt Pushard, who the Cardinals selected in the Rule 5 draft, must remain on the active roster all season if they want to keep him, so I would imagine he makes the Opening Day roster as well.

The second lefty in the bullpen will be an interesting battle to watch. Currently, the only lefties, outside of Romero, that are on the 40-man roster are Justin Bruihl, Nick Raquet, Bryce Mautz, and Cooper Hjerpe. Hjerpe will begin the year on the injured list, so he's out of the equation, and Mautz will likely be a part of the Memphis rotation. Between Bruihl and Raquet, the latter has options remaining, so if Bruihl has a solid spring, he could make the roster since he is out of option years. Packy Naughton, who is finally back from injury, is a non-roster invitee to keep an eye on for that spot.

For the final two bullpen spots, I went with George Soriano and Andre Pallante. The Cardinals just acquired Soriano for Andre Granillo, a move that confused many but is clearly an upside play by Bloom's front office. The Cardinals liked having Steven Matz fill a Swiss-army knife role early last year, letting him get some spot starts to ease their rotation arms into the full season of work and then seeing long-relief and leverage opportunities as well. Pallante has filled that role for the Cardinals in the past, and I think he will again come Opening Day.

Just missed: LHP Packy Naughton, LHP Nick Raquet, RHP Chris Roycroft, RHP Luis Gastelum, and RHP Ryan Fernandez