The St. Louis Cardinals bullpen trust rankings

The St. Louis Cardinals have used their young offense to help propel them to a record above .500 to start the season, but there are already a couple of games that have fans wondering if they could be even higher up in the standings. The Cardinals had the league lead in comeback victories and were the only team to have not lost a game after scoring first, but most of us in Cardinal Nation would like some wins to come without the drama of late-game heroics or letdowns.

The backend of the St. Louis bullpen was pretty clear from the outset of the offseason, especially as Chaim Bloom decided to hang onto valuable lefty JoJo Romero to at least begin the 2026 campaign. Along with Romero, manager Oliver Marmol was expected to have Matt Svanson, Riley O'Brien, and free agent signing Ryne Stanek to take care of the final innings. The middle innings were up for debate, but the team ultimately broke camp with George Soriano, Rule-5 pick Matt Pushard, Chris Roycroft, and lefty Justin Bruihl to make up the rest of the relief corps for Marmol. While there have been a couple of bright spots, the rest of the group has likely kept Marmol and pitching coach Dusty Blake up at night.

Who can be trusted in the St. Louis Cardinals' bullpen?

As I will continue to point out this year, regardless of the plan not being to compete, the reality is, this team could be relevant longer than we anticipated. The players and coaching staff will never intentionally lose ballgames, but the personnel that Chaim Bloom provided in the bullpen showed that bolstering the group was never top priority. However, someone has to pitch and with the offense keeping games close, that has created a pecking order of sorts for Marmol as the Cardinals navigate the bullpen waters with what they have in the organization.

Lockdown: Riley O'Brien

The top tier in the bullpen is reserved for one person only, and luckily for the Cardinals, that is their closer. Riley O'Brien has not just been the best reliever in the St. Louis pen; he has been one of the top arms in all of baseball. So far, the closer has seven saves while notching a 33% strikeout rate and has yet to allow a run or walk a batter through his 13.1 innings. This is the level of dominance ROB has flashed at times before injuries always seemed to halt his momentum. Now healthy and comfortable, he has become Marmol's go-to guy to close the game. This success will make the story around O'Brien center around whether he should be traded or extended. Despite having three more years of control after this one, he is already 31 years old, and the injury track record could scare Bloom out of a long-term commitment. He may choose to strike while the iron is hot and deal him for the top return while he can.

Good enough for who it's for: JoJo Romero, George Soriano, Gordon Graceffo

Last year would have seen Romero joining ROB in the tier above, but so far this year, he has settled into his late-game lefty specialist role. After deciding to hang onto the southpaw, Romero has not been as dominant as 2025, but still been just fine in his 11 games this year. His strikeout rate last yera was already low, and this year it has dropped even more, but JoJo has been able to work around trouble so far, stranding more runners despite the traffic. The underlying metrics show he has been a little lucky so far, but without other options with his track record for success, Romero is locked into his role until a trade suitor comes calling for his services.

A pleasant surprise who also might be getting some good fortune so far is George Soriano, who was confusingly traded for when Andre Granillo was sent to the Nationals, but the move has been a major win for the Cardinals. Granillo has bounced around between the bigs and Triple-A, having a double-digit ERA at both levels, while Soriano has moved up the pecking order thanks to some early success on his part and struggles from others. Like Romero, Soriano's ERA is a little lower than it should be as his command issues he seemingly fixed in spring have popped up again. Through nine innings, he has struck out eight but walked six while allowing four hits. A lot of traffic that could end up biting him, especially if he comes in with runners on base.

Finally, converted starter Gordon Graceffo has done will since being recalled after Pushard went on the injured list and Roycroft continued to struggle. Like the rest of the staff, he has seen his strikeout rate decrease despite maintaining his velocity, and he has done well to get out of jams when called upon in the middle innings. Graceffo's 0.77 ERA is a far cry from his 5.22 xERA as he has been helped with two double plays in high leverage spots to help keep his stat sheet looking clean. The decrease in strikeouts has also come with Graceffo's walk rate spiking, but all six of his walks came in four of his nine games.

The positives have been fine, but we might be blinded by the results thus far. The current stats of those four arms are okay, but if the expected stats turn into reality, this relief corps could get even harder to watch.

Ugh fine: Justin Bruihl, Matt Svanson, Ryne Stanek

The old saying goes, "Well, someone has to pitch," and for the Cardinals' bullpen, those someones make up the latter half of the relief options. To start with, the one who truly fits the title of this tier, Justin Bruihl has been as expected since being acquired this offseason for cash. Deemed by me as just another John King, Bruihl even dons the same #47 as his predecessor, and has performed in a way that would make King proud. So far, Bruihl has pitched in 13 games with more walks than strikeouts, but has seen a big jump in his fastball, moving from 89mph to 92mph early this year. With few other lefty options forcing a change, "ugh, fine" will continue to be my reaction when Marmol signals for the southpaw.

The next two will probably be argued as being ranked too high on this list, but it brings me back to truly someone has to pitch to finish ballgames, and with the rotation struggling to get into the sixth, it has to be one of these two guys to bridge the gap. Matt Svanson has been a massive bummer early going in 2026, and while a minor league reset might be the best bet to get him on track, there is nobody behind him itching for a spot and three of Svanson's last four appearances have been scoreless. While the command issues have remained from his rough start to the campaign, he has not allowed a hit in five of his last six outings.

Stanek, on the other hand, is going the other direction. The lone major league signing for the bullpen, the 34-year-old has improved his strikeout stuff, but his command has completely lost him. Stanek has never been one to control the strike zone, but this year, he has 10 walks in his 10 innings of work and has given up multiple runs in four of his 11 outings. With a major league deal and a need to fill, the only way we will probably see Stanek out of the organization is through a trade. For everyone's sake, he needs to bump up into the next tier to be attractive to a postseason contender.

Gas up the Memphis Shuttle: Ryan Fernandez

And finally, everyone's bummer from last season has done it yet again. Fernandez did not make the team out of Spring Training, but was called up early and has gotten in three games so far. This tier is less about his performance in his tiny sample, but more about the reality of MLB bullpens these days. As the Cardinals work to get Fernandez right on the mound, this will likely come in blowout scenarios for the time being, and also could see the righty working multiple innings. With a long stretch of games coming up and the relief corps taxed early, Fernandez may just be shuttled out for a fresh arm when needed. So far this year, his fastball has lost about a mile per hour but he is getting groundballs more than he has in previous years. The command remains an issue, but if he can remain consistent, he can work his way off the shuttle bus and get some extended run with the big league pen.

Overall, the Cardinals' season thus far has been exciting for even the most pessimistic of fans. Even as Jordan Walker falls back to reality, there are plenty of other youngsters that we should focus our attention on for the future. The way that bullpens are built in the modern MLB may be frustrating and also create false blame being put on the manager, but this is the best way for the Cardinals to lose while still learning about what they have in the organization.

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