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That annual volatility that gets addressed at the trade deadline or with the late-season emergence of an unexpected or young late-inning answer has been replaced for the Cardinals this season by a bullpen that has remained sturdy despite the stress, a vision of availability and versatility.

For the second time in as many days, the top two setup men in the National League, right-hander Andrew Kittredge and lefty JoJo Romero, carved up the late, high-leverage innings to secure the Cardinals’ 6-1 victory against Cincinnati on Thursday. When Romero entered in the eighth, the Cardinals were on their way toward a 98th game decided by three runs or fewer — their second within 24 hours. An expanded lead did not minimize Romero’s role.

He got the win Wednesday and got the save Thursday.

The Reds did not get a run off either Cardinals reliever.

“The group that we have down there has been really fun,” Kittredge said earlier Thursday morning. “And there hasn’t been a ton of turnover in the bullpen — which is a bit unusual. But it’s also a testament to how good guys have been done there and consistent, too.”

The lack of turnover in the summer and how they’ve maintained that strength into fall is something for the Cardinals to consider this winter.

The brightest and best part of the season spent loitering around .500 has been the bullpen and how the trio of Kittredge, Romero and rookie Ryan Fernandez covered innings and bridged leads to reach closer Ryan Helsley. The closer secured his 44th save of the season Wednesday night and could yet set the Cardinals’ single-season record by reaching 49.

Bullpens traditionally undergo makeovers every winter — churn is a defense against volatility — but the performance and makeup of the Cardinals’ current bullpen is worth holding together.

Kittredge is a free agent this winter, and at some point in the near future, the Cardinals expect to approach him to discuss a return.

Setup man Keynan Middleton missed the entire season with a forearm strain, and the Cardinals have a $6 million option on him for 2025. He would welcome a discussion about making his return from injury with the Cardinals.

Coming off a career year, Helsley has one year remaining before free agency. He has expressed an openness to talk extension before.

Romero and Fernandez are early in their careers with multiple years of control ahead. The same is true for John King and Matthew Liberatore, two lefties who have played prominent relief roles.

It is possible for the Cardinals to find relief in an encore.

The stage for it was set back in March.

“That’s what we talked about in spring,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “Outside of the ninth (inning), I felt like our ’pen had the versatility of pitching in any spot. From an ego standpoint, from a role standpoint, they were comfortable knowing you can use me in the sixth, seventh, eighth. Use me how you please. It’s given us the ability to really make it difficult on the opposition as far as not getting the matchup that they want.”

The series win against Cincinnati offered snapshots of how well that’s worked.

First, the availability.

The group that Masyn Winn called “a three-headed monster” were all available for the mid-September series. Helsley’s availability can be traced back to the decision in spring to keep him in the ninth. The addition of Kittredge meant fewer games Helsley would be asked to throw multiple innings or chase five outs instead of three.

From there, there were weeks throughout the season that Romero, Kittredge, or Fernandez were considered unavailable — and those weren’t always advertised publicly.

“We talked about it in June, right?” Marmol said. “You have to take care of guys there in the middle in order to have them do what they’re doing now in the back end. They’re in a position where they feel fresh, so you’re able to do what we did (Thursday).”

Said Kittredge: “There have been times this year where I’ve been used a lot, and then they’re very aware of that. I don’t feel like I’ve been put in harm’s way. It inevitably happens every year where somebody has to do something that they probably shouldn’t or go into a game they should not be pitching because they need rest. That’s the nature of the game. That’s going to happen. This year, it hasn’t.”

And it’s not for lack of need.

The Cardinals have the highest number of wins decided by three or fewer runs (55), and they have the smallest average margin of victory in the majors (2.69).

Second, the versatility.

The Cardinals have relied on a three-man weave for those close games, but it’s not always the same order for Romero, Fernandez and Kittredge. And it’s not always a single inning.

Before the game, pitching coaches Dusty Blake and Julio Rangel will go through scouting reports and “lanes” set with Marmol. The manager described it Thursday as looking a seven-batter section of a lineup and determining the best matchups for Kittredge and Romero. They don’t have to start with a clean inning. They don’t have to finish with the end of an inning.

Their assignments interlock.

In Wednesday’s win, Kittredge entered with one out in the seventh and delivered the same score to Romero for the eighth. On Thursday, Kittredge had a six-batter assignment, and if he did not get six outs, Romero was ready to finish the eighth with a matchup against Reds switch-hitter Elly De La Cruz. When the Cardinals added two runs in the bottom of the inning, Romero finished the game to collect earn his first save of the season.

They are the only two relievers in the NL with at least 30 holds, as Kittredge sits at 33 and Romero at 30.

The bullpen pitched 11 scoreless innings against the Reds in three games and struck out twice as many batters as Cardinals relievers allowed base runners, 10 to five. It did not earn a hold, save or win, but few innings were as pivotal as Kittredge’s on Wednesday to bridge the seventh and eighth to get a tie game to Romero and the late innings. All according to plan.

“We complement each other,” Romero said. “Good one-two punch.”

“And then we take a lead,” Kittredge said, “and give it to Hels.”

Fedde for Friday

The Cardinals will open their weekend visit to Toronto with Erick Fedde starting Friday and continuing his run of matchups against American League teams.

Acquired by the Cardinals at the trade deadline from the White Sox, Fedde will make his fourth consecutive start against an AL club. The Cardinals are 1-2 in those starts, and Fedde has lost four consecutive decisions.

He’s 1-5 with a 4.30 ERA in five starts for the Cardinals.

Marmol confirmed Fedde’s start but declined to announce the rest of the rotation for the three-game series in Toronto. With seven starters now on the active roster, the Cardinals are considering added rest or other adjustments, and they’re also discussing when Miles Mikolas will next start given some recent struggles.

Extra bases

Willson Contreras (fractured finger) will be evaluated Monday, and he may be able to resume some baseball-related activities that day depending on how well he’s healed. He was originally prescribed three weeks of inactivity. Monday is the earliest he and the club will know how possible a return to play is for this season.

• It is possible that the Cardinals will become the third team in MLB history with three catchers making at least 50 starts apiece, according to Elias Sports research: Contreras started 50 before his injury, and Pedro Pages (49) and Ivan Herrera (47) are closing in.
• Reds outfielder Will Benson bruised the middle finger on his left hand, and X-rays taken of the finger at Busch Stadium did not reveal a break. Benson injured the hand in the sixth inning when he attempted to bunt against Sonny Gray and his fingers were mashed by the pitch as they gripped his bat’s barrel.
• The Cincinnati Reds are the first opponent to lose 100 games at Busch Stadium III.

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When Thomas Saggese stepped to the plate in the seventh inning Thursday at Busch Stadium, the Cardinals rookie could feel “a little pressure.”

The 22-year-old had gone hitless in his first nine at-bats in the major leagues following his debut Tuesday. As he stepped to plate with his walk-up song, Sublime’s “Santeria,” playing and a matchup with Reds reliever Carson Spiers awaiting, he “was just trying to hit something hard.” What resulted was something that “just worked out.”

On the first pitch he saw from the righty, Saggese hit a soft line drive that dropped into right field for a single, securing his first MLB hit.

“It’s really cool because everybody else is so excited for me — everybody congratulating me,” Saggese said of the reactions in the dugout after his first single. “It’s a really cool feeling. Just like I said so many times before, it’s something that I thought about for so long. It’s a dream come true getting a big league hit.”

An inning later, Saggese added to his memorable day with a line-drive single to center field that recorded his first RBI in the majors as well and provided some insurance in a 6-1 Cardinals win that secured a three-game series win over the Reds.

The two-hit game added to a debut series for Saggese that has included a display of infield defense that has drawn praise from Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol along with teammates Paul Goldschmidt and Masyn Winn.

He added another example of his defensive skill set Thursday when he started at second base.

On a ground ball Cincinnati’s Rece Hinds hit sharply up the middle in the eighth inning, Saggese ranged to his right and, from behind second base and from the edge of the outfield grass, snagged the ball on a hop. With his momentum carrying him away from first base, Saggese turned, planted his right foot and made an off-balance throw to first base that beat Hinds at the bag for the inning’s second out.

“It’s been fun to watch him play. It really has,” said Marmol, whose club improved to 74-72. “That play up the middle was an incredible play. He got a good jump on it. He’s made several now. A couple of diving plays the other night. It’s been fun to watch him, man.”

The effort showcased the type of player Saggese can be in the majors.

“I’m glad he got his first couple of hits today,” said Winn, who homered in the third inning against the Reds on Thursday. “But I think the defense he showcased over the last few days has been pretty unbelievable. I mean, you look at the guy. I mean, no BGs (batting gloves), just out there getting dirty. I mean, that dude is a baseball player. It’s pretty fun to watch.”

And reinforced what the 22-year-old demonstrated in spring training while in big league camp as a non-roster invitee.

Saggese, a trade deadline acquisition in the Jordan Montgomery deal with the Rangers last summer, batted .300 with a .364 on-base percentage and 11 RBIs in his first big league camp. He doubled three times, homered once in 50 at-bats and was among the final cuts in big league spring training.

“He played really well in spring. I think he impressed all of us,” Goldschmidt said. “None of us had seen him because he was with the Rangers last year. He hit the ball really well, played good (defense). I mean, those defensive plays he made today, and really this whole week at shortstop, were great plays. He had some really good at-bats his first couple of days, too. Hit some balls hard that they caught. It was nice to get to see him rewarded, to have a couple of hits there late today.”

His call to the majors Tuesday came after he batted .253 with 20 home runs and a .753 on-base plus slugging percentage in 125 games for Class AAA Memphis. It was with Memphis where Saggese assumed primary shortstop duties for the first time as a pro.

He started at shortstop in his major league debut and played second base in the other two games of the series. His presence gives the Cardinals an additional infielder with experience at second base, shortstop and third base.

“He’s not making the moment any bigger than it is,” Marmol said. “There are some nerves there. That’s normal, and he’s communicated that. But once he takes the field and gets that first ground ball or takes that first at-bat, he starts to kind of settle in. But he’s done a nice job of just being in the moment, being present and playing his game. What we’re seeing here over the last several days is exactly what we saw in spring training: Just a gritty player that’s going to give you everything he’s got.”

When the Cardinals looked for insurance runs after starter Sonny Gray allowed one run and struck out nine batters in six innings and after Lars Nootbaar produced the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning, Saggese’s single kicked off what ������Ƶ would do in the final two frames.

After singling to lead off the seventh, Saggese scored in the next at-bat on a home run from Brendan Donovan, who pinch-hit for Jordan Walker. With two outs in the eighth inning and Nootbaar on second base after he doubled with one out in the frame, Saggese lined an elevated fastball to center field to score Nootbaar for the rookie’s first RBI.

Saggese scored in the eighth when Winn reached base on a fielder’s choice to help the Cardinals secure a series win after they dropped the opener Tuesday.

“His at-bats are going to continue to get better and better,” Marmol said of Saggese. “He’s a line-drive guy. It was good to see him get that first knock out of the way, and then another line drive there to drive in a run. A positive day for him, and hopefully he can build off of it.”

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Photos: Donovan's two-run homer secures ������Ƶ Cardinals victory over the Cincinnati Reds

How bad is it for ������Ƶ Cardinals fans?

The last time they experienced this particular misery was 1994 and 1995.

Yep, it’s been almost 30 years since the Cardinals finished under .500 in back-to-back years, which the current Cards very well could do (though it’s fair to point out, because of the strike, the ’94 season had just 115 games and ’95 had 143).

And so there are fans as old as their late 20s who have never lived through this.

That’s how bad it is.

Sure enough, in the offseason after ’95, Bill DeWitt Jr. and the new ownership group took over. The franchise was resuscitated. Rejuvenated. New free agents. New manager and coaches. New messaging. New beloved ad campaign. New hope for fans.

As the chairman DeWitt approaches this pivotal offseason — along with son and team President Bill DeWitt III — the DeWitts can learn from their past selves.

The current Cardinals are at a crossroads. And not just with the performance on the field. The fan base ranges from apathetic to agitated to angry. As seen in loud and proud posts on social media, some fans don’t trust team leadership. And at first pitch on Wednesday, the Busch Stadium crowd could be best described as “a smattering.”

It’s bad, boys.

So the DeWitts must be proactive and aggressive this offseason — they should attack this like they’re trying to make their mark all over again. What was said last winter won’t work this winter. Missing the playoffs is a trend now — barring a September miracle, this will make five times in nine years. And just four playoff wins in those other four years.

Now, back in 1995, DeWitt Jr. and the gang inherited and retained second-year general manager Walt Jocketty. But they brought in a new manager. Tony something. And they signed one of the best hitters on the market (Ron Gant), one of the best pitchers on the market (Andy Benes), a third baseman who finished 10th in the 1995 MVP voting (Gary Gaetti) and, for good measure, an aging fan favorite to come off the bench (Willie McGee). Sure enough, in 1996, the Cards won the division and made the playoffs for the first time since 1987 (and won the National League Division Series).

The current Cardinals club could use some changes and additions (and, of course, some subtractions). But who will make those decisions?

As we know, John Mozeliak, the president of baseball operations, is under contract through the 2025 season. His success over the years will, one would think, someday earn him a plaque in the Cardinals Hall of Fame. But if the DeWitts bring back Mozeliak in the exact same capacity — as baseball boss — the fan reaction will likely be brutal ... and the statement by the team would essentially be that status quo is acceptable. No, you don’t fire Mo. But the bold move would be to figure out a way to keep him on board for 2025, while hiring a new baseball boss.

Naturally, Chaim Bloom checks a bunch of boxes (including, if you will, a last name befitting of the goal for this wilting franchise). The former Red Sox boss and longtime Rays executive has worked with the Cards as a front office adviser since this past offseason. He’s made numerous trips to ������Ƶ and around the organization. Oh, and another feather in his cap: Roman Anthony, the brand new No. 1 prospect per Baseball America, was drafted by Bloom and his Red Sox staff in 2022.

During his annual Winter Warm-up media session, DeWitt Jr. said in January that when Boston fired Bloom, “I immediately thought: We could probably use someone like that (to be part of the front office). Someone who’s been with a small market, big market, very smart guy to kind of help see what’s going on with our organization. And interestingly, Mo thought the same thing. He called me two days later, and I said, ‘John, it’s interesting because I had the same thought.’ We were on the same page there, which is great.

“I think he can be very helpful. I mean, our team has been together a long time, and you never know what else is out there that maybe our guys have not been in touch with. The world changes — it’s helpful to get the perspective or somebody who’s done it with different organizations.”

So, yeah, Bloom could be the DeWitts’ statement move, a la La Russa before 1996. But just like we saw heading into 1996, there were so many other changes and alterations made, from the team they fielded to the field itself (finally, an end to Astroturf). The victorious 1996 Cardinals restored the franchise. They gave a new generation of fans a taste of playoff baseball. They became a draw. And if you recall, they were promoted by an influential ad campaign titled “Baseball like it oughta be.”

On March 10, 1996, in this very newspaper, a full-page ad appeared:

It oughta make you forget about work.

It oughta be real grass.

It oughta be steppin’ on peanut shells.

It oughta be diggin’ for second.

It oughta be cold beer.

It oughta be autographing a kid’s glove.

It oughta be fun.

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Baseball like it oughta be.

Coming April 8.

Well, heading into 2025, it oughta feel like 1996.

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In his final regular-season start, Cardinals top pitching prospect Tink Hence completed 1 1/3 innings on 29 pitches (15 strikes) for Class AA Springfield. Hence, 22, allowed one hit and struck out one batter before he exited early for what appeared to be an injury during Springfield’s 2-1 win over San Antonio.

Following a 22-pitch first inning, Hence began the second inning by throwing two balls to Marcos Castanon. He got Castanon to ground out on the third pitch of the at-bat. Against Juan Zabala, the last batter Hence faced, the Cardinals prospect missed the strike zone with all four pitches he threw. Four of the last six pitches he threw to Castanon and Zabala bounced in the dirt.

Hence was met on the mound by catcher Jimmy Crooks and the rest of the Springfield infield after the walk to Zabala. Manager Jose Leger and Springfield athletic trainer Alex Wolfinger joined the meeting on the mound to check on Hence. Hence walked off the mound with Wolfinger after the brief mound visit.

The reason for Hence’s early exit was not clear as of Wednesday night.

Before Hence’s early exit against San Antonio, Hence had steadily rebuilt his workload after a monthlong gap in pitching because of fatigue and back discomfort he first experienced in June. The righty had totaled 23 2/3 innings in seven outings before Wednesday. He completed four innings in three of his previous four outings and upped his pitch count to 72 pitches on Sept. 4.

Hence posted a 1.52 ERA, struck out 35 batters, and kept opposing hitters to a .163 batting average as he gradually increased his workload after his gap in starts.

Here are other Cardinals prospect performances from Wednesday:

Catcher Jimmy Crooks, Class AA Springfield: As a part of a Springfield win that set a franchise record in wins with 78, Crooks went two-for-three with an RBI and a run scored. The S-Cards’ starting catcher singled in the first inning and provided Springfield with its first run in the third inning on a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Dakota Harris, who walked to lead off the frame. Crooks doubled to left field to leadoff the sixth inning and scored two at-bats later when Chase Davis grounded into a force out. The two-hit game lifted Crooks’ average to .325 and on-base plus slugging percentage to .920 in 88 games.

Outfielder Chase Davis, Class AA Springfield: Davis, the Cardinals’ first round pick in the 2023 MLB draft, went one-for-three with a single and two stolen bases as Springfield’s starting center fielder. The two stolen bases give the 22-year-old Davis three in four games since making his Class AA debut. He is three-for-three on steal attempts. In the third inning, Davis robbed San Antonio’s Romeo Sanabria of extra bases and an additional RBI with a head-first, Superman-esque diving catch on a fly ball toward the left-center field gap. Davis’s highlight-reel catch led Lucas Dunn to tag up and score from third base but prevented Ripken Reyes from advancing from second base.

Outfielder Matt Koperniak, Class AAA Memphis: The former undrafted free agent went four-for-five with a home run and three singles to give him his 13th game with three or more hits this season. The four-hit performance improved Koperniak to a .310 batting average, a .369 on-base percentage, and a .513 slugging percentage in 114 games. Koperniak, 26, has slashed .346/.393/.615 in seven games since the start of September. Three of Koperniak’s four hits in Memphis’s 6-3 win over Nashville had exit velocities above 100 mph, per Statcast. His home run jumped of his bat at 105.7 mph and traveled 363 feet to right field. It was his 19th home run of the season, which set a career high for a season for the 26-year-old.