JUPITER, Fla. 鈥 When Roddery Munoz arrived in spring training with the team that plucked him and his velocity off waivers, the Cardinals presented him with their plan and a change of pace.
Munoz, who pitched last season for Miami, started in 17 of his 18 big-league appearances, and his relief experience mostly came in Class AAA two years ago. The Cardinals met with him early in camp and explained how they wanted to move him to the bullpen, from the start, and outfit him with a reliever鈥檚 routine to see if that made him more consistent while maintaining (or accelerating?) his power.
He was intrigued.
鈥淚 like to try something new,鈥 the right-hander said. 鈥淚f something doesn鈥檛 work, then trying something new. The routine for a starter is long. You get ready for the game. You have a lot of time. The reliever 鈥 you never know when you鈥檙e going into a game. Whatever the situation, you have to be ready for every moment.鈥
People are also reading…
Cardinals pitchers Roddery Munoz, right, and Edwin Nunez throw on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at the team practice facility in Jupiter, Fla.
The Cardinals are auditioning for the reliever to be ready for a moment that was pivotal to last season鈥檚 reliable bullpen and record-setting season from closer Ryan Helsley.
They have a blueprint. They need a bridge.
And they鈥檙e throwing all sorts of options at the opening to see if one emerges.
鈥淲hen you know you have Helsley in the ninth, you鈥檙e working backward,鈥 manager Oliver Marmol said. 鈥淵ou had an answer for just about anything. That is, when you have more opportunities to close out games when you have the lead after the sixth or seventh inning 鈥 which wasn鈥檛 a strength of ours the previous years. When you look at what went well, it was we had really good personnel to solve for a lot of lineups.鈥
Andrew Kittredge brought the bullpen together with his work as Helsley鈥檚 primary setup. Lefty JoJo Romero had 30 holds. Kittredge led the National League and set a club record with 37 holds. Talk to Chris Roycroft about his mentality or Ryan Fernandez about his gameday prep, and it鈥檚 clear Kittredge鈥檚 presence remains, even though he left as a free agent for Baltimore.
To replace him and bridge leads to Helsley, the Cardinals have pulled prospective relievers in from all the usual sources. There is the incumbent: Romero. There are the returning relievers pushing for a promotions: Fernandez and Roycroft from the right, Matthew Liberatore on the left. There is the comeback candidate (internal): Riley O鈥橞rien. There is the comeback candidate (external): Nick Anderson. There is the waiver claim: Munoz. And there is the rising prospect who could have a new role: Gordon Graceffo.
The one source not yet tapped is major-league free agency. The Cardinals remain in conversation with veteran relievers, sources said. What they鈥檙e willing to spend appears limited, but there鈥檚 internal discussion about the value of adding a stabilizing veteran. The available free agents the Cardinals have discussed or approached include a handful of seasoned relievers such as David Robertson, who had 34 holds in 2024, and Phil Maton, a native of Chatham, Illinois, who had a 3.66 ERA in 71 games this past summer.
Cardinals relievers JoJo Romero, right, and John King throw in the bullpen on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025, at the team's practice facility in Jupiter, Fla.
鈥淭he guys we have right now can definitely do what we did,鈥 Fernandez said. 鈥淗opefully I can put myself in that role by pitching well.鈥
With his fastball, Fernandez, a rookie last season, has seven strikeouts in four innings this spring. He along with Romero, Kyle Leahy, Munoz, O鈥橞rien, and Roycroft had yet to allow a run in their spring appearances. Anderson slipped into trouble in an early outing. Graceffo pitched out of trouble in a recent outing, and he leads the Cardinals going into Friday鈥檚 game with nine strikeouts in 5鈪 innings.
A year ago, the Cardinals committed to Helsley in a classic closer role 鈥 he鈥檇 get the ninth if they had a save to secure. That came after a turbulent year for the bullpen and Helsley that saw him used in various innings, often when it appeared to be the highest leverage.
A variety of consistent, quality setup options made that possible.
They intend to have the same approach with Helsley this season.
A variety of consistent, quality setup options must make that possible.
鈥淵ou have the personnel to do it that way,鈥 Marmol said. 鈥淭here are times when you don鈥檛, and you have to figure out a different blueprint as to how to get to Helsley. But it worked because we had kind of (solutions) for a couple of different situations on the right and left side. You had groundball guys on both sides. You had some swing and miss on both sides. Based on the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and into the ninth. They were pretty interchangeable.鈥
Their groundball guy from the left, John King, returns, and so does their primary setup lefty Romero and their rising option Liberatore.
On the right, there are candidates and creativity.
The Cardinals want to see how shifting to relief helps Munoz find command, and they鈥檙e intrigued by what Graceffo could do in short-burst outings.
In his second outing of spring, Munoz had the swiftest pitch of the game, at 97.4 mph. In one scoreless, he struck out two, threw 11 pitches, and feature four different types 鈥 a sinker at 95 mph, a cutter at 92.2 mph, a slider at 86.2 mph and the aforementioned fastball. Graceffo had seven swings and misses Thursday, and he fastball averaged 93.9 mph. He touched 90.5 mph with his slider. All five of the swings at his curveball missed it.
鈥淵ou get a shot of adrenaline coming out of the 鈥檖en and don鈥檛 think as much as when you have a whole day to prepare, a whole week to prepare for the start,鈥 Graceffo said. 鈥淵ou can kind of get in your head a little bit. 鈥 The mindset is a little different. It鈥檚 how you attack the day.鈥
Without signing a major-league free agent, what the Cardinals have created within camp and on their roster is depth. From quantity, they鈥檒l seek quality. Marmol recently said the right-handers vying for a spot in the bullpen 鈥渃ontinue to dial-up (for) evaluating guys who got their legs under them. This will be a good stretch.鈥
Bullpens are volatile, annually. The bullpen the Cardinals have on opening day 鈥 all lined up in roles from spring, their ERAs a tidy 0.00 鈥 is not going to be the bullpen they have by July or August. The Cardinals prioritized some elasticity with their pitching options so, if necessary, they could use churn to find the consistency.
That鈥檚 less of last year鈥檚 blueprint and more of a route, up Interstate 55.
鈥淵ou still have to have the right depth,鈥 Marmol said. 鈥淯sually if they鈥檙e doing well, they don鈥檛 seesaw back and forth. They tend to stick around.鈥
Walker on the mend
Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker resumed limited baseball activities Friday for the first time since jamming his knee into a sprinkler cover earlier in the week. He took some light swings in the cage and participated in some warmup drills with his teammates.
Marmol said Walker鈥檚 absence 鈥 initially set for a week 鈥 is now 鈥渄ay to day鈥 with how the outfielder feels.
Hence sent down
Ahead of Friday night鈥檚 game, the Cardinals optioned right-handed pitcher Tink Hence to Class AA Springfield. Hence, 22, struck out one and allowed nine baserunners in his 3鈪 innings this spring. Hence, part of the Cardinals鈥 2020 draft class and one of the top pitching prospects because of the life of his fastball, has had multiple seasons interrupted by injuries.
鈥淲hen you can live and die with the fastball, it鈥檚 a good thing,鈥 Marmol said. 鈥淎dd the velo to it and it makes it very difficult. Him being able to repeat that, understand how he creates that, is important. Which I feel good about.鈥
