Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said Thursday that Liberatore is likely to open the season in the bullpen, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
Liberatore has been stretched out this spring and has pitched well, allowing just two runs with a 5:2 K:BB over 9.2 innings. However, while the Cardinals are not ruling out the left-hander making starts for them in the future, Liberatore has a much clearer path to opportunities in relief. The southpaw has a career 3.89 ERA as a reliever versus a 5.86 ERA as a starter.