JUPITER, Fla. -- With the advent of “bullpenning” and the introduction of the “opener,” the path to 27 outs in baseball is no longer so linear.

Disappearing are the days of the 200-inning starter, of which there were only 13 last season, including St. Louis’ Miles Mikolas. In fact, there have been fewer pitchers reach that benchmark in each of the past three years than in any non-strike shortened seasons since 1900.

Creativity is en vogue. Strategy is being spotlighted. Relievers are the craze.

Count the Cardinals among those who have redesigned their bullpen for maximum in-game flexibility. They boast back-end relievers who can throw multiple innings, and they’ll open the season without the sort of rigid structure former manager Mike Matheny used to crave.

There’s no better evidence of that than the team’s decision to not designate a closer.

But building a better, bolder bullpen hasn’t come with the sacrifice of weakening the rotation. Far from it. Rather than subscribe to an either-or approach employed by some other clubs, the Cardinals look at the two parts of their pitching staff as co-anchors.

“I think in some ways, we’ll use our starters in a traditional sense, but maybe our bullpen in a modern sense,” general manager Michael Girsch explained. “We’re probably not going to do a lot of openers or that sort of stuff. We’ve got starters that we like. They want the ball, and we want them to have the ball, so why mess around with it?

“But on the back side, we’re probably not going to name a closer any time soon. We’re going to play that on matchups. And we have guys who can go multiple innings. I think that’s where we’ll be unique.”

When it comes to the rotation, the Cardinals set the ceiling high and the leash longer than some. Manager Mike Shildt isn’t allergic to allowing his starters to navigate a lineup for a third time. He won’t be tied to firm pitch counts, nor will he be looking for excuses to turn to his ‘pen midway through games.

He believes that his rotation -- one that returns Mikolas, Jack Flaherty, Michael Wacha and Adam Wainwright -- features four pitchers capable of throwing 180-200 innings. Mikolas and Flaherty crossed that threshold last year. Wainwright has several times before. Wacha did when healthy.

“That makes us unique,” Shildt said. “They expect it. They all trained for it. If our guys still have their stuff and are executing their pitches in the late innings and we have a favorable position with the score, they’re going to pitch.”

“With our rotation, every time that we step on the mound, we feel like the guy is going at least seven [innings],” added Flaherty. “Not just seven. Not five. Not six. We feel like he’s going at least seven. That’s the way we feel about each and every guy in the rotation.”

That’s not to understate the lifeline behind them or its potential impact. A bullpen that had its breakdowns early and late last season has been reinforced by the addition of the team’s top prospect (Alex Reyes) and one of the relievers (Andrew Miller) who was once at the forefront of the game’s bullpen evolution.

The presence of Jordan Hicks, who threw 462 more 100-plus-mph pitches than anyone in the Majors, and possibly Carlos Martínez in the late innings could make this one of the game’s most dynamic units.

“It’s exciting,” Miller said. “There are young guys that have talent that’s through the roof.”

That so many of the Cardinals’ relievers are equipped to throw multiple innings will also allow Shildt to bridge the gap from the starting pitcher to the closer du jour with fewer bodies.

But there’s another critical element to this blueprint, one that has been a focal point of Shildt’s spring. That’s a return to fundamentals.

No team gave up more free outs last season than the Cardinals, who committed 133 errors. That number must shrink if the Cards are to capitalize on their pitching depth.

“You have an improved defense that’s going to get the outs that we’ve earned,” Shildt said. “And then we’re going to do the little things right.”

He cited the need to reduce how often teams snag an extra base, whether that be advancing on a misdirected throw or stealing against pitchers who lose track of the running game. Consider that the Cardinals’ caught-stealing percentage (pitchers/catchers combined) ranked fifth worst in the Majors last season at 21.7 percent.

Compounding these issues was the fact that the club issued the fifth-most walks (593) in the Majors.

Pursuing maximum efficiency in the field and on the mound will be what anchors the more all-encompassing vision of how the Cardinals expect to carry games from beginning to end.

“Candidly,” Shildt concluded, “that’s the key to our season.”