JUPITER, Fla. — With the Cardinals making “pitching, pitching, pitching” their off-season priority, it’s not surprising that there will be a lot of new faces taking the mound at the team’s spring training camp this year.
Of the 33 pitchers scheduled to go through their first official workout on Wednesday in Jupiter, Fla., almost half – 16 – will be doing so for the first time.
That list does not include Lance Lynn, back in a Cardinals’ uniform for the first time since 2017.
Of the 16 new pitchers, 11 are on the 40-man roster and five are in camp with a non-roster invitation. The list includes two who were on the Cardinals’ roster at the end of last season but were not in the organization last spring. Eight have yet to make their major-league debut.
Here is an alphabetical list of the 16 pitchers in the major-league camp for the first time:
Ryan Fernandez – The Cardinals selected Fernandez, a 25-year-old righthander, in the Rule 5 draft out of the Red Sox organization. He was the 23rd round pick by the Red Sox in the 2018 draft and reached Triple A last season, recording 35 strikeouts in 30 innings. Fernandez will either have to be kept on the roster, or the injured list, for the full season or be offered back to the Red Sox.
Kyle Gibson – One of the three veteran starters signed as free agents by the Cardinals at the beginning of the off-season, Gibson, 36, is being counted on to log innings as a back-of-the-rotation starter and provide the team with more stability than it had out of those starters a year ago. Pitching for Baltimore in 2023, Gibson won 15 games despite leading the American League in hits allowed (198) in 192 innings. His 157 strikeouts, however, were 20 more than any Cardinals starter last season.
Andre Granillo (NR) – A righthanded reliever, Granillo, 23, was the Cardinals’ 14th round pick in the 2021 draft out of California-Riverside. He spent most of last season at Double A Springfield, recording 14 saves with 72 strikeouts in 55 innings. He also pitched in the Arizona Fall League, compiling a. 1.80 ERA over 10 innings.
Sonny Gray – The Cardinals are counting on Gray, 34, to be their number-one starter, hoping he can provide wins, innings and leadership to their rotation. The pressure on Gray would have been lessened had the Cardinals added another top-of-the-rotation starter over the winter but since they didn’t, all of the pressure will be Gray to perform as an ace.
Cooper Hjerpe (NR) – The lefthanded starter received his first invitation to the major-league camp two years after he was a first-round selection out of Oregon State. Hjerpe, 22, did not make his professional debut until last season, then missed a good portion of the year because of an injury. He made eight starts at Class A Peoria, then finished the season with seven relief appearances in the Fall League, working a total of 49 1/3 innings.
John King – Part of the trade package the Cardinals received from the Rangers for Jordan Montgomery, King proved to be a serviceable reliever for the last two months of the season. Despite that success, King comes to spring training probably fighting for a job with all of the relief candidates the team has brought into camp. A decision will have to be made on whether a third lefthander (behind JoJo Romero, Zack Thompson or Matthew Liberatore) is more beneficial than keeping one of the new righthanders.
Andrew Kittredge – The most experienced of all the relief candidates who joined the Cardinals over the winter, Kittredge was acquired from the Rays in exchange for outfielder Richie Palacios. The righthander, who will be 34 in March, has logged 214 innings in the majors with the Rays but missed most of the last two years because of elbow surgery, working a combined 31 2/3 innings for the major-league club.
Adam Kloffenstein – A 23-year-old righthanded starter, Kloffenstein was one of two pitchers acquired from Toronto in the trade that sent Jordan Hicks to the Blue Jays. A former third-round draft pick out of a Texas high school, Kloffenstein joined Triple A Memphis after the trade and finished the season there with a 3.00 ERA in nine games, eight of them starts, recording 35 strikeouts in 39 innings.
Keynan Middleton – The latest addition to the roster, the 30-year-old Middleton signed as a free agent after pitching for the White Sox and Yankees last year. He enjoyed the best season of his six years in the majors, posting a combined 1.88 ERA to go along with striking out 64 of the 212 batters he faced. Middleton also has pitched for the Angels, Seattle and Arizona.
Riley O’Brien – The Cardinals sent cash to the Mariners to acquire O’Brien, 29, who joins what should be a spirited competition for a job in the bullpen. He was clocked up to 95 miles per hour in videos posted on social media this winter after saving 15 games for Triple A Tacoma in 2023 with a 2.29 ERA and 86 strikeouts in 55 innings.
Sem Robberse – A native of the Netherlands, Robberse came to the Cardinals in the Toronto trade at last year’s deadline. The 22-year-old righthander moved into the Memphis rotation after the trade and in seven starts, plus one relief appearance, was 2-1 and struck out 44 batters in 35 innings in his first exposure to the Triple A level.
Tekoah Roby (NR) – The trade that sent Montgomery to the Rangers brought back Roby and infielder Thomas Saggese and the Cardinals might begin seeing that return pay off as early as this season. The 22-year-old righthander was a former third-round pick of the Rangers out of a Florida high school. He joined Springfield after recovering from a shoulder injury and then finished the year in the Arizona Fall League.
Nick Robertson – Another bullpen candidate obtained over the winter, Robertson was part of the return from the Red Sox for Tyler O’Neill. A 25-year-old righthander, Robertson split the 2023 season between the Red Sox and Dodgers, appearing in a combined 18 games at the major-league level. He also pitched at Triple A for both teams with a combined total of 58 strikeouts in 42 innings.
Drew Rom – After being acquired from the Orioles in the Jack Flaherty trade, Rom made eight starts for the Cardinals at the end of last season, posting an 8.02 ERA. The off-season additions have moved Rom out of a starting role heading into this season, which means he likely will become either a candidate to shift to the bullpen or will be part of the group of insurance pitchers starting at Memphis.
Victor Santos (NR) – The Cardinals would like to get a look at the 23-year-old righthander this spring after he was part of the return from the Red Sox for O’Neill. Santos did not pitch during the 2023 season because of an injury but did pitch in winter ball. In his last full season in 2022, Santos made a combined 25 starts between Double A and Triple A, going 10-12 with a 4.97 ERA.
Logan Sawyer (NR) – Ten years after he was a 29th-round draft pick by the Rockies, the 31-year-old Sawyer received an invitation to the Cardinals’ major-league camp after pitching in Springfield and Memphis last season, saving seven games, and recording 61 strikeouts in 52 innings. From 2019 through 2022 Sawyer pitched in Independent baseball in the Atlantic and Frontier leagues.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains
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