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In Cards' bullpen, much left to be decided

Though there are shoo-ins, several spots up for grabs

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By Matthew Leach / MLB.com

03/11/10 6:36 PM ET

JUPITER, Fla. -- Seemingly one of the more settled units of the 2010 Cardinals, the club's bullpen may have more openings than would be evident at first glance.

Four or five spots are set, but that leaves two or three openings. And depending on the competition over the next three weeks, those openings could be filled by some new faces to the Major League club.

Ryan Franklin will be the closer once again. Jason Motte will almost certainly be on the club has a short reliever from the right side, possibly as a middle-inning pitcher brought in to get a strikeout in a tough situation.

The Cardinals will carry two tactical lefty relievers, the same two they carried last year. Dennys Reyes and Trever Miller are both back. They'll both pitch frequently and in short stints, deployed to face the opposition's toughest left-handed hitters.

Mitchell Boggs' chances of being on the roster are very good -- possibly as the setup man -- but he's not a given. And then it starts to get murky. Blake Hawksworth pitched well last year, but his first game of the spring was not a good one and he's not guaranteed a spot.

Josh Kinney needs to make an impression to solidify his job. Kinney recently received an MRI exam and a cortisone shot on his right shoulder. He said Thursday that the exam revealed that he's fine, and he expects to pitch in a matter of a couple of days.

Kyle McClellan, a key part of the 'pen for the past two years, is competing for a rotation spot. If he does not win a starting job, he's as safe as Motte, Franklin and the lefties to be in the relief corps. But he may be the favorite to win that fifth-starter job over Rich Hill.

Three of four variables could be on the team, and that would be the bullpen, since the Cardinals will most probably carry seven relief pitchers at the start of the season. But if any of the last three falter, the door opens for a number of other contenders.

"You can do the same thing I do," manager Tony La Russa told reporters on Thursday morning. "You've got 12 pitchers. There are going to be four [starters] and whoever the fifth guy is. ... And that leaves seven relievers. You can do the same game that we do. Here are the for-sures and here are the candidates, and how deep is that pool? If you've only got one or two extra guys, that narrows the competition."

If Boggs is counted in -- and he would have to pitch himself off the roster, rather than onto it -- that leaves two spots, and likely two very different roles. One would be a long reliever, and one someone who could pitch shorter and more often. Thus, it's two different sets of candidates battling for the jobs.

Hawksworth remains the favorite to be the long reliever/swingman. In his absence, the candidates to be the long man include Hill, Rule 5 Draft selection Ben Jukich and possibly lefty prospect Jaime Garcia, who is the third pitcher in a nominal three-man race to be the third starter. Even longer shots would be righty prospects Lance Lynn and Adam Ottavino. La Russa has acknowledged that an all-right-handed staff could benefit from a lefty swing pitcher, but it won't be the determining factor.

Garcia has impressed thus far, but there would be some reluctance to put him in the bullpen. He might benefit, the club believes, from regular starts at Triple-A Memphis.

"One of the problems with Jaime is health," La Russa said. "Which way can he stay healthier? But if you say health is not an issue, he [still] really hasn't had a full Triple-A season. He still would benefit from being in the big leagues and under [pitching coach Dave Duncan's] tutelage. And we'd be careful using him."

Meanwhile, if the other short reliever isn't Kinney or McClellan, the candidates are even newer faces. One hurler who has established himself on the radar is right-hander Pete Parise, who signed out of independent league ball in 2007. He reached Memphis last year and pitched well in winter ball, and has drawn attention not only for his effectiveness, but for his poise.

It's not a coincidence that Parise has twice pitched the ninth inning, when the Cardinals had a small lead this spring. Nothing is a coincidence in a La Russa camp. The manager doesn't like to lose games, even Spring Training games. If Parise hadn't made an impression, he wouldn't have gotten those assignments.

Parise is downplaying his chances, though.

"They're probably getting me ready for Memphis," he said. "That's all I see. Anything else is a plus. I don't read anything into it. There's a bunch of great pitchers out there. The Cardinals' staff is always one of the best. To get in there is an honor. I don't expect to get in there."

Someone, or a couple of someones, would have to falter. Kinney is ahead of him on the depth chart, and McClellan could still bounce back to relief. Should the spot go to someone else, though, the race would be wide open. Parise would be a leading contender. Other right-handed prospects like Fernando Salas, Francisco Samuel and Eduardo Sanchez might pitch their way into the competition, but each has already had a hiccup on the mound this spring.

Matthew Leach is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.