The Cardinals face an inflection point with their pitching, but they believe they have options.

They feel that Daniel Ponce de Leon is one of those options. And just in case he’s not, they got intriguing looks at two other out-of-the-box candidates -- Matthew Liberatore and Zack Thompson -- in Saturday night’s 6-4 Grapefruit League win over the Marlins.

How did St. Louis get here? It started on Friday, when Miles Mikolas was ruled out for Opening Day with right shoulder stiffness that’s lingered since the second week of camp. And it was exacerbated Saturday, when Kwang Hyun Kim was confirmed to be shut down for a brief period, due to a bout with back tightness.

Those ailments have opened up two spots in the rotation behind Jack Flaherty, Adam Wainwright and Carlos Martínez.

“There are guys that can do it, and we’ll continue to grow them and give them opportunities and see where it shakes out,” manager Mike Shildt said Saturday afternoon. “But we are working from a resource of depth that has been a little bit tested early on.”

Ponce de Leon provided some reason for that confidence on Saturday. As has been the case throughout his career, he faced a high pitch count early, navigating traffic for 43 tosses by the time six outs were recorded. But he bore down for 3 2/3 frames -- making a positive impression.

“I was really encouraged by Ponce’s start tonight,” Shildt said postgame. “He was really locked in -- typically is -- but he was really just in the moment pitch to pitch. … Really, really encouraging night for Ponce. …

“His arsenal was quality tonight. Really big league quality for sure.”

Though it was his first start of the Grapefruit League slate, Ponce de Leon has been on a starter workload throughout camp, pitching in long-relief twice before Saturday.

However, Ponce de Leon’s history of early-inning struggles may give the Cardinals another idea. He has success as a relief pitcher and success pitching several innings.

As all of baseball enters a season with pitcher health uncertain, the Cardinals have kept an open mind on how to navigate 162 games. Piggybacking starters is one such option.

John Gant gives Ponce de Leon the biggest challenge for the fifth spot in the rotation. Or the duo could make for an intriguing piggyback pairing. Or they could each get starts should the Cards apply a six-man rotation, when necessary, across the season.

Is that possible?

“We showed last year that we are adaptable,” pitching coach Mike Maddux said recently.

The Cardinals could get even more outside the box. They could turn to Liberatore or Thompson, though it’s unlikely to come at the outset of the season, if at all in 2021.

“Don't think they're candidates to start,” Shildt admitted pregame, “but just in the process of building those guys up to start the season.”

Each provided a different look, with plenty of information to be gleaned on Saturday.

Liberatore breezed through two perfect innings on 27 pitches, striking out one. He was rejuvenated by his last outing (two hits and three walks in 1 1/3 innings on Sunday vs. Houston).

“Just going out there and being ready to attack hitters from pitch one,” Liberatore said. “Making them hit my stuff instead of the other way around.”

“Tonight, man, he kept the pedal down,” Shildt said.

Meanwhile, Thompson was on that trajectory -- for an inning. He struck out a trio before losing that ground with three free passes, ultimately ending his night with two earned runs on his ledger.

“Quality stuff coming out of his hand as well,” Shildt said. “Lot of close misses in the eighth, maybe he started to pick a little bit. … Both guys with good stuff that were able to show it tonight.”

Regardless of how the competition shapes out, the Cardinals remain steadfast in their depth, this year more than in years past. The Cards did not add any Major League-level starters to the organization this offseason.

They believe they have some already waiting in the wings.

“That’s really where the confidence lies,” Shildt said. “It's not just having depth, it’s having some quality of depth.”