John Mozeliak's bullpen construction has doomed Oli Marmol's decision-making

The only place the St. Louis Cardinals spent money this offseason was on the bullpen. A meager $2 million was delegated to reliever Phil Maton to be a veteran presence in an otherwise youthful relief corps. To date, that investment has paid off quite well.

However, no other moves were made to fortify the strongest part of the lineup last year. Instead, John Mozeliak and the Cardinals relied on internal improvements and continued production from relievers like Ryan Helsley, JoJo Romero, and Ryan Fernandez.

Prior to Opening Day, I was high on the bullpen. The options for manager Oliver Marmol were abundant with depth pieces like Kyle Leahy, Riley O'Brien, Chris Roycroft, and Steven Matz behind Helsley, Romero, and Fernandez. It felt like there would be reinforcements whenever needed for the Cardinals' bullpen.

Instead of the bullpen being the greatest strength for the Cardinals this year, it's become the most unstable part of the team.

John Mozeliak's complacency with the St. Louis Cardinals bullpen this offseason set manager Oliver Marmol up for failure.

JoJo Romero was a candidate for regression last year. His ERA ballooned from 2.43 in the first half last year to 5.40 in the second half. Batters slashed .223/.280/.345 in the first half versus .264/.346/.500 in the second half. He gave up the same number of home runs in the second half in half as many games. The signs for regression were everywhere for Romero.

Rather than find a left-handed reliever to back up JoJo Romero, John Mozeliak stood pat.

Ryan Fernandez has been struggling all year. His ERA jumped to 11.42 following a three-run home run that he gave up in the bottom of the eighth inning against the Atlanta Braves Wednesday afternoon. John King hasn't been reliable all year, and he blew a one-run lead against the Braves on Wednesday in the seventh inning.

While Mozeliak wisely pulled the plug on Chris Roycroft following a tough start to the year, he's been unwilling to do the same for other relievers like Ryan Fernandez, John King, and even JoJo Romero to an extent.

If John Mozeliak wants the team to be competitive this year, something he has been adamant about for months, he needs to activate the Memphis shuttle more often. A couple of changes for Roddery Munoz and Matt Svanson — who has pitched only one inning despite being in the majors for a week now — don't help a reeling bullpen.

Riley O'Brien has been nails in Memphis with 14 strikeouts in only seven innings. Chris Roycroft's adjustment has boosted his numbers in his brief time down. (Roycroft is eligible to return to the major-league roster as early as April 26th.) Andre Granillo, who isn't on the 40-man roster, has also been lights out in Memphis. The list goes on for relievers who could be called up to spell some of the struggling players, yet John Mozeliak insists on not making changes quickly.

Another decision that has doomed the bullpen was to use a six-man rotation for a time. Typically, teams will call up a starting pitcher to make a spot start and give the regular rotation a breather for a day. Instead, the Cardinals decided to shift Steven Matz, the club's best left-handed reliever so far, from the bullpen to the rotation for one or two starts.

Why isn't Michael McGreevy, the club's best starting pitcher depth choice, getting a spot start like he did last year? After all, this is the year to see what our young players can do for the future.

Oli Marmol is not blameless here, either. There have been times when he could have used Ryan Helsley to hold a game where it was, Saturday's game against the New York Mets, for example. He's only used Matt Svanson, last year's saves leader in the Texas League, once in a week. However, when you only have three reliable relievers, it's difficult to know when to use them and how to not burn them out in April.

The bullpen for the Cardinals was wildly mishandled this offseason by John Mozeliak, and it continues to be managed terribly. Oli Marmol is left with three legitimate relievers. While the manager isn't faultless here, the bullpen's underperformance falls primarily on John Mozeliak and the pitchers themselves.