Cardinals bullpen: Who is in and who is likely fighting for a job in Spring Training?

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The St. Louis Cardinals needed pitching in a big way going into the offseason, and they've added a variety of arms as a result.

At the trade deadline, the Cardinals acquired seven different arms to bolster their organization as they sold for the very first time in the John Mozeliak era. While it was beyond frustrating to be in that position, they were able to add some much-needed depth to the organization, including top pitching prospect Tekoah Roby.

This offseason, the Cardinals continued that trend, adding three starting pitchers to their rotation as well as five different relievers to the mix as well. In total, the Cardinals have acquired fifteen different arms to the organization since the deadline, and are hoping that the mix of veteran arms and upside from the younger arms will produce better results in 2024.

While the work they have done to the rotation is underwhelming to most fans, I've been pleasantly surprised with the moves they have made to strengthen their bullpen mix this offseason. While the rotation got most of the headlines the last calendar year, those who watched the team on a consistent basis know how bad the bullpen was as well.

The Cardinals had the seventh most blown leads in 2023 with 41, including seven in the 9th inning. There are a number of factors that played into this, as closer Ryan Helsley missed a significant portion of the season, Giovanny Gallegos had a down year, and the rest of the bullpen was extremely volatile. At the beginning of the year, Jordan Hicks was awful, and then he became one of the best relievers in baseball before being traded. JoJo Romero didn't take on a high-leverage role until late into the season.

The rotation did not help their case either. Short outings put a strain on the bullpen from the very beginning of the season, and things never really seemed to level out. But even so, it felt like any time the rotation did give the Cardinals a good start, the bullpen would find a way to lose the game.

While the Cardinals mostly pursued innings in the rotation, they did go out and try and target upside with their bullpen additions. Most of the names they added have an elite trait that can produce swing-and-miss, and if a few of them hit, this bullpen could go from a bottom 10 unit to a top 10 unit in all of baseball.

As things currently stand, who is "in" the bullpen for Opening Day, and who may be fighting for a spot? Here is how I see the bullpen shaking out prior to the start of Spring Training.

Who is in?

Ryan Helsley, Andrew Kittredge, Keynan Middleton, Giovanny Gallegos, and JoJo Romero

The group of Helsley, Kittredge, Middleton, Gallegos, and Romero will all be on the Cardinals Opening Day roster barring an injury, and each of them profile as "high-leverage" arms for St. Louis this season.

Think back to last year. Even with guys like Helsley, Gallegos, Hicks, and Romero, it was rare for the Cardinals to have more than two relievers at any given time that they could "trust" in big spots. Helsley was injured, Gallegos wasn't himself for long stretches, Hicks was terrible in April and then traded in July, and Romero did not establish himself as that kind of reliever until the end of the second half of the season.

While it's unlikely that all five guys will remain healthy and effective all season (bullepns rarely have that kind of predictablitly), the Cardinals do have five different names who you can feel confident calling upon in big spots, something they were not able to say at any point last season.

Helsley, without a doubt, is a top 5 reliever in baseball when he is healthy. Having that kind of weapon at the back end of the bullpen, a guy who is going to shut things down almost every time he is out there will be such a boost to this team and something they badly missed in 2023.

While there is hope that Gallegos bounces back in 2024, the Cardinals now have two other right-handed pitchers who have found major success at the big league level. Middleton has elite whiff rates and really established himself as a high-leverage reliever with both the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees last season. Andrew Kittredge came over in the Richie Palacios trade, also boasting great whiff rates, and was a dominant reliever for the Rays before Tommy John surgery.

Add in Romero from the left-side, and the Cardinals have to be feeling good about that mix of arms as they head into Spring Training. Five out of the eight bullpen arms they'll carry on Opening Day should be guys who can come in and get outs in big spots, something they sorely need if they want to contend in 2024.

Who is "probably" in?

Ryan Fernandez and one of Matthew Liberatore/Zack Thompson

This next group is guys who are expected to take two of the remaining three bullpen spots, one due to roster flexibility and the other due to bullpen construction.

Ryan Fernandez was taken by the Cardinals in the Rule 5 Draft from the Boston Red Sox organization, one of four relievers the Cardinals acquired this offseason with ties to Chaim Bloom. Fernandez uses the trendy fastball-slider combination to get outs from the bullpen and has seen great success with producing swing-and-miss from his slider. If Fernandez has a solid Spring and the Cardinals feel like he can contribute next year, he'll make the Opening Day roster since he would have to be returned to Boston if he did not.

Matthew Liberatore and Zack Thompson are both left-handed starting pitchers who have seen various opportunities in the Cardinals rotation and bullpen over the last few years. Thompson found more success than Liberatore in the rotation in 2023 and seems to be the "next man up" if an injury or subpar performance comes from their rotation. While the Cardinals do have other left-handed options they can go to out of the bullpen, I do think one of these two will likely open the year in the bullpen for St. Louis while the other begins in Memphis to stay stretched out as a starter.

I could see a world where both Liberatore and Thompson make the Opening Day roster, with one functioning more as a long-man and spot starter, while the other is a left-handed option in shorter stints. Gordon Graceffo, Michael McGreevy, Drew Rom, Sem Robberse, and even Tekoah Roby already give the Cardinals starting pitching depth if they want to utilize Thompson and Liberatore in other roles.

I wouldn't be shocked if Fernandez and one of Thompson or Liberatore don't make the bullpen for Opening Day, but I would be surprised if those moves didn't happen.

Who is on the bubble?

Nick Robertson, John King, Andre Pallante, Riley O'Brien, Josh James, and Drew Rom

If I end up being correct about who is in and who is probably in the bullpen come Opening Day, the Cardinals just have one spot remaining in their bullpen to fill, and that would go to one of Robertson, King, Pallante, O'Brien, James, Rom, or the other of Thompson and Liberatore.

Again, I want to point out how much of a difference this is from the 2023 season. On Opening Day, the Cardinals had Packy Naughton and Drew VerHagen in the mix, while this year I'm not sure either would make the bullpen at all. Naughton did receive a non-roster invite to Spring Training this year alongside names like Wilking Rodriguez, Ryan Loutos, Tink Hence, Tekoah Roby, Logan Sawyer, Connor Thomas, Gordon Graceffo, and Andrew Granillo, but I think it would take excellent springs from that group and a clear void for them to push their way into the mix.

The biggest common denominator with this group is that each of them has options that allow the Cardinals to start them out in Memphis and bring them up later as desired. Pallante, Rom, and Robertson all have two options remaining, while O'Brien and King have one option remaining. Josh James was signed on a minor-league deal, so the Cardinals would have to add him to the 40-man roster if he was going to make the team (and he wasn't invited to big-league camp to begin the Spring).

King was really good for the Cardinals after coming over in the Jordan Montgomery/Chris Stratton trade, but with low upside and not great underlying metrics in 2023, I think Liberatore or Thompson would get the edge in the running for that second left-handed reliever spot.

Robertson was acquired in the Tyler O'Neill trade and boasts a great fastball-slider combination, much like O'Brien who the Cardinals got from Seattle. Both guys will surely factor into the bullpen during the season, but it's unclear if that will begin on Opening Day.

If I had to guess, the favorite from this group to make the Opening Day roster should be Andre Pallante, someone who the Cardinals really like and who can fill multiple roles for them. In 2022, Pallante provided them innings in the rotation, a long-relief role, and as a high-leverage arm, and that kind of flexibility is something they really value. While Pallante struggled in 2023, he's been making changes to his arsenal to produce more strikeouts. He's still a ground ball pitcher, but adding some swing and miss will go a long way.

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