ST. LOUIS–One week after John Mozeliak spoke in support of what the Cardinals had assembled this offseason for the starting rotation, headlined by the acquisition of Steven Matz, there are already signs of concern. Jack Flaherty’s sore shoulder is still under review. Alex Reyes, while not penciled into the rotation, was going to be stretched out as a starter, but will almost certainly miss the start of the season, also with a shoulder problem.
Adam Wainwright, 40, will continue to attempt to beat back Father Time. Miles Mikolas is coming off a 2021 campaign where he appeared in just 9 games after his return from 2020 flexor tendon surgery. Dakota Hudson was impressive in his return late in 2021 from Tommy John elbow surgery, but will need to be watched.
Where will the Cardinals turn to for rotation innings if (when?) reinforcements are needed?
Jordan Hicks: The fireballer had Tommy John surgery in 2019, opted out of 2020 due to COVID, and missed most of 2021 with an elbow injury. Like Reyes, Hicks was going to be stretched out as a starter this spring, as a way of managing his workload more consistently than a reliever that could be used 3 of every 4 days. “They want to have him ready for a starter’s schedule but not a true starter’s role. While searching for a way to get their pitching through April, the Cardinals believe appearing for multiple innings, plotted for every few days, will be better for him than the daily demands of being a reliever,” Derrick Goold, from our news partners at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports this week. Would Hicks be ready for a true starter’s role if it comes to that?
Jake Woodford: Woodford had been relegated to long relief for much of the last two seasons, but late last year, he emerged as an option for a rotation that was starving for innings when several pieces of the rotation fell to injury.
Drew VerHagen: Maybe Mozeliak was on to something when the team announced VerHagen’s signing last week. “We believe he will compete for a starting job, but could
easily transition to the bullpen if needed. We are excited to have Drew join our organization,” he said. VerHagen has spent the past two seaons in Japan, going 13-14 with a 3.49 ERA in 208.2 innings.
Johan Oviedo: Oviedo’s road to the majors was put in the fast lane in 2020, when the pandemic and its impact on the Cardinals thrust him into action, ahead of schedule. Oviedo is 0-8 in 18 starts over the past two seasons, coming tantalizingly close to his first major league win last year, before the front office went outside the organization to bring in JA Happ and Jon Lester in 2021 to help bridge the innings gap, rather than forcing Oviedo to develop at the major league level.
Matthew Liberatore: The 2021 Cardinals’ minor league pitcher of the year and one of three co-players of the year went 9-9 with a 4.04 ERA with AAA Memphis in 2021, but also found his stride while away from the organization, when he helped Team USA qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. Liberatore’s time is likely coming sometime in 2022. Will it start in the rotation at the start of the season?
JA Happ: One of 2021’s reinforcements, Happ, currently a free agent, went 5-2 with St. Louis after he was acquired from Minnesota at the trade deadline. He’s a veteran who has been through just about everything, so getting ready quickly shouldn’t be a huge concern, but he does need to get into camp, as would be the same issue for anyone else on the current free agent market.
Mozeliak said on the day the lockout ended that the idea of piggy-backing pitchers, using a combination of two players to get through starters innings and into the leverage portion of a game, was something the club would consider in 2022. He may have been prescient.