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The Cardinals won't name Miller or anyone else their closer heading into the season, Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports.
Miller has 53 career saves to his name, but his time in Cleveland made him synonymous with the idea that a team's best reliever need not always pitch the ninth inning. It's not clear that he fits that description in St. Louis at this point in his career, as a series of injuries limited him to 34 innings and a 4.24 ERA in 2018. The Cardinals also have second-year pitcher Jordan Hicks, who owns a 100.5 mph fastball but a mysteriously mediocre 20.7 percent strikeout rate. Manager Mike Shildt is likely to play the matchups, with Miller facing lefties and Hicks facing righties, preventing either player from recording a high save total.
