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JUPITER, Fla. — With bullpen roles up for grabs and less than three weeks left before opening day, how will the Cardinals look to evaluate the right-handed relief arms contending for spots on the 26-man roster?

“At this point, effectiveness, right? You want to see them get outs and do what they do, whether they’re high ground-ball guys, then keep people on the ground,� Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said before his club faced the Miami Marlins Tuesday at Roger Dean Stadium. “If they’re swing-and-miss guys, then miss some bats, right?

“We’re at that point in camp where performance matters, and we want to make sure that they are the best piece to help us move this thing forward.�

The Cardinals got a look at three right-handed bullpen candidates Tuesday in their Grapefruit League contest against the Marlins when Roddery Munoz, Gordon Graceffo and Nick Anderson followed outings by starter Erick Fedde and closer Ryan Helsley.

The first to take the stage was Munoz, an offseason waiver claim acquisition from the Marlins and member of the Cardinals’ 40-man roster.

When he entered to pitch the sixth inning, Munoz, 24, surrendered back-to-back homers to the first two batters he faced. Those two runs were the first earned runs he allowed this spring after surrendering one unearned run through four innings in his first four outings.

The 24-year-old worked around a one-out walk after allowing the two homers. The 25 pitches he threw were the most he’s needed in an appearance this spring.

Graceffo, a former fifth-round pick from the 2021 MLB draft and a 2024 big league call-up, was handed the seventh inning. The 2022 Cardinals minor league pitcher of the year surrendered two runs in his lone inning of work. Graceffo gave up two singles and issued a walk to the first three batters he faced before recording a groundout and getting a double play on a lineout to end the inning on 19 pitches.

With the outing, Graceffo has allowed five runs in his past 2 2/3 innings.

Munoz’s and Graceffo’s showings provided Marmol and the Cardinals coaching staff a chance to evaluate the two on a scale that doesn’t reflect in a box score.

“In your immediate interaction with them after they come in, you try to gauge a lot of different things,� Marmol said following Tuesday’s game. “How they evaluate their outing when it doesn’t go well is important to kind of hear what they think and also just how they react from a being sped up standpoint or not. You want to see that from time to time, just not too often.�

Anderson, who pitched the ninth inning of the Cardinals’ 12-5 loss, delivered one scoreless inning. He needed 10 pitches to do so. The 34-year-old retired the first batter he faced on a lineout and recorded two swinging strikeouts against the next two to face him. Anderson, a non-roster invitee to camp, touched 93.9 mph with his fastball, which got three swings and misses to help him to his second scoreless outing of the spring.

“You saw two outings where the (velocity) was in the 94 (mph) to 95 (mph) range,� Marmol said. “Then you saw (velocity) down, but the vertical break on it was higher, which is what he’s trying to connect with is getting those 19s and 20s (inches of vertical break). He had 21 (inches) as well, and then combining those where he can get the (velocity) with the break up there, with that hop.�

Walker continues progression

Right fielder Jordan Walker went through a running progression Tuesday morning as he continues to increase activity while recovering from a left knee injury, Marmol said. Marmol described the running as the “last box you want to check� before increasing activity to include lateral movements.

Walker has been absent from the Cardinals lineup for more than a week with the injury. Walker jammed his knee when he stepped on a sprinkler cover while fielding a fly ball during a March 4 game against the Washington Nationals at CATCI Park of the Palm Beaches. Scans on Walker’s left knee confirmed there was no structural damage.

Extra bases

In his fourth start of spring training, Fedde allowed six runs on seven hits that included three home runs. So far this spring, Fedde has allowed seven runs in 10 innings.

• Sonny Gray allowed four runs on six hits and struck out four batters in four innings in an 8-0 loss vs. the Mets on Monday at Clover Park in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Gray surrendered two home runs in the outing. Gray has allowed seven runs in 6 2/3 innings between two Grapefruit League starts.
• Matthew Liberatore and Ryan Fernandez had their scoreless and hitless starts to spring training broken up in the loss to the Mets. Fernandez allowed two runs on two hits, including a home run, after beginning spring training with five consecutive scoreless and hitless innings. Liberatore had his stretch of 8 1/3 innings halted when he allowed two runs on four hits in his second inning of relief Monday night.