St. Louis Cardinals Opening Day Roster Prediction 1.0

Bullpen

(8) - Ryan Helsley, Giovanni Gallegos, Jordan Hicks, Zack Thompson, Andre Pallante, Genesis Cabrera, Chris Stratton, and Dakota Hudson

This is easily the hardest group to predict. Aforementioned names like Woodford, Liberatore, and Thomas could end up here, as well as guys like recently acquired Anthony Misiewicz, Packy Naughton, Drew VerHagen, Freddy Pacheco, Wilking Rodriguez, JoJo Romero, Jake Walsh, and Guillermo Zuniga could all battle their way into the bullpen on Opening Day.

What is great about this group is the fact that there is so much depth. Pacheco and Rodriguez are guys I am eager to see in St. Louis, but the club can be smart with their options and leave them in Memphis until they are needed on the big-league roster. I would not be surprised to see guys like Stratton or VerHagen be outperformed a bit by one of the younger arms, but still make the roster over them to avoid losing them.

I did a bit of a mix with my predictions as if a guy like VerHagen does struggle, a Zack Thompson or Genesis Cabrera could easily take his place on the roster. This is a strong group, but what makes it even stronger is that there will be names that are left off that you could argue got snubbed, meaning throughout the season, there should be quality reinforcements when either performance or injury requires it.

These are my 1.0 Opening Day Roster predictions. Anything you disagree with? Comment you predictions below!