If Jordan Walker is for real, the St. Louis Cardinals are now World Series contenders

#3 - The Cardinals pitching has internal reinforcements on the way to supplement this lineup

This spring has been about Jordan Walker, but there are other names, specifically in the pitching department, who are giving the Cardinals reason to believe some of their question marks will be answered soon.

While these guys should not, by any stretch, be relied on as front-line starter answers this year, it's intriguing to think about the kind of impact Gordon Graceffo, Michael McGreevy, or even the likes of Cooper Hjerpe or Tink Hence could have on this pitching staff.

Cooper Hjerpe is a name Cardinals fans aren't talking about a lot yet but could end up being the best of their pitching crop. Check out this prospect breakdown from Kyle Reis, who does an incredible job breaking down Cardinals' prospects every year. Reis, like others, is very high on Hjerpe, even ranking him as his 2A prospect in the Cardinals' system. Hjerpe was drafted in the first round in 2022 and could find his way to St Louis before October.

Gordon Graceffo continues to impress so many inside the Cardinals' organization and outside of it, and I would not be surprised if he finds himself in the St. Louis rotation by season's end either. Tink Hence has elite stuff, and while he's still a ways away from being an MLB starting pitcher, he could be a dominant bullpen arm at the end of the season.

This is not me saying St. Louis doesn't need to acquire a front-line starter, they do. But they can also supplement that with their up-and-coming pitching. I didn't even mention newcomer bullpen arms like Freddy Pacheco, Wilking Rodriguez, or Guillermo Zuniga, who all could bolster the Cardinals staff as well.

Call me an optimist, say I'm overreacting, tell me it's just Spring Training, or whatever else you want to say. If this is the Jordan Walker the Cardinals are getting in 2023, he vaults them into World Series contention and gives them the flexibility to improve the roster even more.