Multiple Cardinals arms working through potential role changes for 2026

The Winter Meetings came to a close without much tangible evidence of a rebuild for the St. Louis Cardinals, but we can only hope that the framework for some future deals have been laid out. The only finalized trade to this point has been sending Sonny Gray to the Boston Red Sox, leaving a wide-open spot in the starting rotation.

Kyle Leahy, Gordon Graceffo, and Tink Hence may be working through role changes next season.

Kyle Leahy, who was one of the Cardinals' most reliable relievers last season, was seen as a candidate to move to the rotation at times last season thanks to his ability to work multiple innings with a starter's repertoire. That has been stated and confirmed multiple times, the latest of which coming from Derrick Goold with the reporter saying the team is holding a rotation spot open for Leahy.

In that same piece, Goold mentioned a couple of other arms in the organization and how they may see their roles shift from what it was at times last season. Gordon Graceffo, who has started in 116 of his 181 professional pitching appearances, is being shifted to a reliever role full time with the hope he can cover multiple innings. He has only started one game at the major league level and was once seen as a potential big league starter, but it appears the Cardinals are ready to shift him to the bullpen.

Further down the organization, former top prospect Tink Hence is looking to once again move past injury and consistency concerns after another lost season in 2025. Last year looked like a big one for Hence to move forward and make good on his potential as he looked to move past the 100-inning threshold for the first time and reach Triple-A. That did not come to pass, as he struggled in a short stint in Spring Training thanks to some shoulder issues that crept up again later in the season. All told, he only covered 21.1 innings in eight starts, but Chaim Bloom says that Hence is healthy enough for a normal offseason. What role he will be working towards, though, remains unclear. Bloom knows he has starter potential but acknowledges the injury concerns have been building and a bullpen job might be best for all parties involved.

"“It’s about that best version and having that guy healthy and able to post consistently. They are (the injuries) impeding his ability to get out there and pitch and be that really, really good version of himself that we have seen.”"

Chaim Bloom

In Hence's case, the team has not yet settled on his future plans, but for the other arms with major league experience, it appears that they will all have to work through some type of new routine this offseason. There is still plenty of time for this to change, with a few months until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training, but as of now, we should expect to see Kyle Leahy in the rotation with Gordon Graceffo filling bulk innings out of the bullpen.