Ponce de Leon, who posted an 0.69 ERA across four Grapefruit League games before spring training was suspended, has already proven worthy of an Opening Day roster spot, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.
Ponce de Leon entered camp with a strong chance at sticking past final cuts, considering he's already proven capable of thriving at the big-league level by posting a 3.31 ERA and recording 83 strikeouts across 81.2 innings over his first pair of stints with the Cardinals. Solid as those numbers are, Ponce de Leon was even more impressive this spring across his 13 innings, and the fact he's proven capable of transitioning seamlessly from reliever to spot starter when needed makes him a particularly valuable asset for manager Mike Shildt.