Cardinals Boldly Reward Blistering Flamethrower With Coveted 2026 Opening Day Starter Nod

Feb 14, 2026; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals pitcher George Soriano (65) delivers a pitch during a spring training workout at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals made yet another difficult decision on Saturday afternoon.

With Opening Day just a few days away, St. Louis is getting the roster ready to roll. The Cardinals have been trimming it down in order to get it closer to the 26-man roster St. Louis will have on Opening Day. The Cardinals aren’t quite done trimming, but made another tough decision on Saturday by sending 26-year-old right-handed hurler Gordon Graceffo down to the minors to bring the roster down to 34 players.

“RHP Gordon Graceffo has been optioned to Memphis (AAA),” the Cardinals announced. “Our Spring Training roster now stands at 34 players.”

RHP Gordon Graceffo has been optioned to Memphis (AAA).

Our Spring Training roster now stands at 34 players.

— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) March 21, 2026

The Cardinals finalized the bullpen on Saturday

Feb 25, 2026; Port St. Lucie, Florida, USA; St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Gordon Graceffo (44) pitches in the fourth inning against the New York Mets at Clover Park. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images | Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

There aren’t too many variables still hanging over the team right now less than a week before Opening Day. The only real decisions that have lingered are finalizing the bullpen and left field. Sending Graceffo down to the minors is a step towards finalizing the bullpen. He was one of the hurlers in the mix for a job. He was good in camp as well. He made three appearances and didn’t allow an earned run across three innings of work.

In the aftermath of Graceffo going down, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Chris Roycroft, George Soriano and Matt Pushard were informed that they made the Opening Day roster.

“The Cardinals notified relievers Chris Roycroft, George Soriano, and Rule 5 pick Matt Pushard that they had made the major-league team and would be part of the 13-player pitching staff on opening day,” Goold wrote.

Of this group, Soriano arguably is the most interesting. Soriano has stuff that’s hard to teach. He finished the 2025 season in the 72nd percentile in fastball velocity. Soriano came to town this offseason as St. Louis traded Andre Granillo to the Washington Nationals. Now, he’s heading to St. Louis.

The five-man starting rotation will feature Michael McGreevy, Matthew Liberatore, Dustin May, Andre Pallante and Kyle Leahy. With Roycroft, Soriano and Pushard confirmed, that leaves the eight-man bullpen featuring those three plus Ryan Stanek, JoJo Romero, Justin Bruihl, Riley O’Brien and Matt Svanson. Arguably a solid bullpen on paper.

The Cardinals haven’t officially announced JJ Wetherholt to the big league roster, but that seems like a formality at this point. Beyond that, the Cardinals need to sort out left field between Nelson Velázquez, Thomas Saggese, José Fermín and Nathan Church. That decision will come in the very near future. The Cardinals are set to kick off the 2026 season on Thursday, March 26 against the Tampa Bay Rays. At least we now know what the rotation and bullpen will look like. Regular season baseball is coming and it should be a fun season for St. Louis.