Ranking positional groups for the St. Louis Cardinals

3. Bullpen

The Cardinals will likely have a revamped bullpen next year. After trading away Chris Stratton, Jordan Hicks, and Genesis Cabrera and losing Drew VerHagen to free agency, John Mozeliak had a tall task of rebuilding a middling bullpen. He did an admirable job on limited funding.

Mozeliak seemed to have achieved his goal of creating a strong set of relievers. Ryan Helsley, Giovanny Gallegos, and JoJo Romero are mainstays, and newcomers Andrew Kittredge and Keynan Middleton will provide key innings late in games. The final three spots in the bullpen are up for grabs.

Either Zack Thompson or Matthew Liberatore will start in the rotation, but the odd man out could become a reliever. Riley O'Brien, Ryan Fernandez, Nick Robertson, or Andre Pallante can fill in the final three spots. Each of these relievers brings a different skill set to the table, but Pallante is the most experienced of the bunch.

This bullpen group will be much deeper than last year's collection of relievers. The back three guys in Helsley, Gallegos, and Romero have high ceilings with sturdy floors. Kittredge and Middleton bring experience and assurance. Riley O'Brien has electric stuff. Ryan Fernandez and Nick Robertson could be useful mid-inning relievers as a bridge.

Last year, relievers accumulated 3.5 fWAR as a group for the Cardinals. That was tied for 9th most in the league. With more stability in the 'pen this year, the Cardinals relievers should be able to hold their own late in the games. The starting rotation is weak once again next year, so the bullpen will have to step up to help the team succeed.