JUPITER, Fla. _ Junior Fernandez's alarm goes off first.
The pitching prospect with the powerful right arm plants his feet on the floor before his teammates hit the snooze button.
Other Cardinals still are rubbing sleep from their eyes as Fernandez navigates the route from Port St. Lucie to Roger Dean Stadium, transitioning daily from prospect who lives at home with his parents to pitcher on the cusp of the majors.
"We have a lot of talent on this team, a lot of great arms," Fernandez said Monday, the morning of his 23rd birthday. "I really don't think about roles. I don't want to get that stuff in my head. But any time I get the opportunity to pitch, I go out there to compete. That's all I can do. Show them I'm ready."
Quick, name the Cardinals' closer.
Chances are five different followers of the team will offer five different answers.
Manager Mike Shildt is not offering many clues. People are starting to worry.
Some advice: Don't.
There are much better things to fret about as this edition of camp nears crunch time.
Worry about who hits cleanup. Worry about Cardinals catching Coronavirus. Worry about the team breaking camp without Dylan Carlson because of contract politics. Worry about Dexter Fowler not hitting. Worry about Miles Mikolas' forearm, Paul Goldschmidt's elbow, Matt Carpenter's back, Kwang Hyun Kim's groin and, most recently, Andrew Miller's fingertips.
All those topics could become unpleasant issues for the Cardinals.
Figuring out who gets save opportunities, and when, should be an exciting issue.
The biggest concern about the closer is a silly one, when you really think about it. With Jordan Hicks on the mend from Tommy John surgery and Carlos Martinez headed back to the rotation, the Cardinals don't really have a candidate who has been there and done that at the highest level. And? This same team has proven that paying for and relying heavily on proven relief experience is a good way to get burned.
Modern bullpens prioritize talent over tenure. The Cardinals hoard talented pitchers.
Hicks, the hardest thrower in the game, is due back sometime in the second half of the season. Until then? Count the options.
Miller could close _ unless the possible nerve issue that kept him from his scheduled appearance Monday turns into a bigger problem.
Giovanny Gallegos, one of the National League's most reliable relievers last season, had a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 5.81 despite plenty of high-leverage situations.
Ryan Helsley's triple-digit heat would fit the ninth inning well, and the assignment in no way would influence his future potential as a starter.
Alex Reyes, if he can find his command, could be a commanding closer thanks to a repertoire that remains filthy.
John Gant and/or John Brebbia are capable. Brebbia needed just eight pitches to retire three Twins in the ninth inning of Monday's exhibition 6-1 win. He's underrated in this discussion.
How about all of the above?
"Who is the most fresh?" asked Brebbia, suggesting that answer could be The Answer every night. "This would be a good group for that, because there is so much depth. For me, if I throw two or three days in a row, or a whole bunch in one week, it's hard to then just have your best stuff all of a sudden because the score and stat lines say, 'Insert pitcher here.' There are going to be plenty of days when one guy has better stuff than the next guy, because maybe he's just tried or something. We are pretty fortunate. We can have one person. We can have two people. We can have five people."
What Fernandez did in West Palm Beach on Sunday suggested it's far too early to scratch his name from the list.
Houston tried to play mind games with Fernandez during his seventh-inning appearance in a 3-3 tie that eventually became a Cardinals loss. When Astros hitters reached two-strike counts against Fernandez, they started requesting time during his delivery. The umpire allowed it more than once, frustrating Fernandez. After two swing-and-miss strikeouts, Fernandez surrendered a single. He answered immediately with another swing-and-miss strikeout, this one punctuated with an emphatic gesture.
It wasn't an elaborate Fernando Rodney bow-and-arrow celebration. It wasn't just a just fist pump, either. It was a flick of the wrist, as if directing the Astros back to their bench.
"Go, sit," Fernandez explained Monday, with a grin.
"One of them called two, three timeouts in a row," Fernandez said. "I don't know if he was trying to get me out of my rhythm. I just wanted the strikeout, and if I get the strikeout, you know I'm going to do something."
Shildt filed no objection.
"I love seeing it," the manager said. "The gamesmanship (from the Astros) was the gamesmanship. I won't communicate much about that. But clearly, it was taking place. And you have one of two ways to go as a competitor. I thought Junior was fantastic. He could have let it affect him. Instead, he bore down a little bit more, in a real positive manner."
Fernandez averaged 97 mph on his four-seam fastball during 13 major-league appearances (11 2/3 innings) last season. He complements the heat with a changeup and a slider that has left major-league hitters stumped. He threw his changeup and slider to major leaguers a combined 127 times in 2019. Those pitches turned into hits just three times. And remember, he is just one of the options.
"I would love to be a closer in the big leagues," Fernandez said. "I've done it in Triple-A, in Double-A a little bit. It feels good. For me, closers, you have to have that kill mentality. It's the best way to say it. Come out in the ninth and be aggressive. Close the game. It's one of the most exciting moments."
Exciting, indeed.
