Cards finalize rotation behind Flaherty

It’s not the way it was drawn up at the start of Spring Training -- and it is temporary -- but the Cardinals have set their rotation ahead of Thursday’s season opener in Cincinnati.

Behind Opening Day starter Jack Flaherty will be, in order, Adam Wainwright, Carlos Martínez, Daniel Ponce de Leon and John Gant, manager Mike Shildt announced Saturday.

Ponce de Leon and Gant have assumed spots available because of Miles Mikolas’ right shoulder injury and the back tightness that slowed Kwang Hyun Kim’s progression in camp.

“We’ll evaluate it as Kim and Miles come back,” Shildt said. “But to start the season, we’re thrilled those guys have earned their opportunities to go out and start.”

Kim piggybacked Flaherty in Saturday’s 6-4 loss to the Marlins and gave up two runs in two innings. It was his first appearance since March 8. He will not be stretched out enough at the start of the season to be on the roster. The Cardinals do not want to put Kim in the bullpen to start the year as he builds up his pitch count and endurance.

“We don’t feel like pitching him out of the bullpen is really fair to him to start the season, nor to anybody that’s going to be a starter,” Shildt said. “We would consider that if the season was underway, to some degree, but not to start the season. He’ll do it through a more traditional buildup to get his starts and be ready to take a starting spot sometime in April, we’re thinking.”

After Saturdays’ outing, Kim, who had a 1.62 ERA in 39 innings in his first season in the Majors, said his back is feeling much better.

“Currently I think my arm strength is better than last year,” Kim said through an interpreter. “After the injury I had with back stiffness, it’s a building-up process.”

Mikolas, meanwhile, hasn’t faced live hitters since Feb. 25.

So it’s Ponce de Leon and Gant in the back end of the rotation. Though the Cardinals have an off-day Friday, following the opener, they will use a full, five-man rotation instead of bringing Flaherty back on regular rest. That means Gant will pitch the fifth game of the season (April 6 in Miami), and Flaherty will make his second start (April 7 in Miami) on five days’ rest.

Ponce de Leon, who had a 4.96 ERA in nine appearances (eight starts) in 2020, struggled in his final start of the spring on Thursday against the Astros. But the Cards believe he has the stuff to become more consistent.

“He knows the expectations,” Shildt said. “He has been in more consistent control of what he’s doing, why he’s doing it and how he’s doing it.”

For Gant, the rotation role is his first opportunity to start games since 2018, when he went 5-6 with a 3.61 ERA in 19 starts for the Cards. The following spring, Gant lost a rotation battle to Dakota Hudson and became a valuable bullpen piece.

“Johnny’s had a heart to start but has pitched out of the 'pen necessarily,” Shildt said. “He was given a full opportunity to start, and he seized it.”

Jake Woodford and Johan Oviedo had also been stretched out to potentially grab a rotation spot.

Shildt did not announce the rest of the Cardinals’ roster decisions Saturday but said the team is finalizing them.

“We’ve got some clarity to what that will look like,” Shildt said. “We’re having internal discussions, we’re talking to players, we’re doing our due diligence and now we’re in the process of finalizing it and making it official.”