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JUPITER, Fla. — It’s good to know that the Cardinals decision makers are kicking around the same sorts of things us laymen are debating. Outside the box thinking can’t hurt, right?

So the reply I received from Cardinals manager Oli Marmol on Monday morning was more than just a little bit intriguing when I asked if the club was set on a leaving Florida with five-man pitching rotation or if a six-man plan was on the table.

“We’re discussing it a decent amount this morning,� Marmol said. “We’ll finish the conversation later on this afternoon. By end of day, we want real clarity as to what that looks like. It was a solid conversation with our staff this morning about it.�

Marmol did not indicate that he’d immediately share that final decision with those of us in the peanut gallery.

Because the decision was pending as of Monday afternoon, perhaps an unsolicited opinion can help tip the scales.

Were my vote the decider, then the Cardinals would go with a six-man rotation.

If a situation ever presented itself for the Cardinals to make a somewhat bold choice that serves their future and steps away from traditional thinking, it’s now.

They’ve made it clear that roster decisions are aimed at what’s best long-term for the current crop of young players and giving them the best opportunity to develop. That’s why infielder Thomas Saggese will go to Triple-A and play regularly instead of serving as a bench player in a limited role in the big leagues.

It’s also why we very likely could see speedster and defensive dynamo Victor Scott II do the same, playing every day for Memphis instead of playing a part-time role for the big club.

However, in Michael McGreevy’s case, I’d argue that having him acclimated to the big leagues from the start of the season will be what best serves the long-term for McGreevy and the Cardinals.

That’s not to say that the brief stint in the majors last season solidified McGreevy’s spot in the rotation. It did show that McGreevy might get a lot out of competing, adjusting, learning and fine-tuning his game at the major league level against the best hitters the game has to offer with daily input from the major league coaching staff.

Would it be a travesty if McGreevy began the season back at Triple-A? No.

Would the Cardinals take advantage of this reset/retool/transition — don’t call it a rebuild — season if they didn’t push the envelope with a highly-regarded former first-round draft pick who pitched in college, has already logged more than 450 innings in the minors and has gotten his feet wet in the big leagues? That answer is also no.

The six-man rotation would allow McGreevy and Andre Pallante to take regular turns in the rotation and position them behind Sonny Gray as proven commodities if the club moves on from one or all of its veteran free-agent-to-be starters — Miles Mikolas, Steven Matz and Erick Fedde — between the trading deadline and the offseason.

The extra day of rest each time through the rotation also could serve to ease McGreevy and Pallante into the workload of their first full seasons as big league starters. McGreevy pitched a career-high 173 innings last season (majors and minors combined).

A quick perusal of the minor league game logs from last season shows that McGreevy started once every six days much more frequently than he pitched every fifth day. Twenty of his 31 starts last season came with five days or more of rest, the majority of those in the minors.

Pallante, who had pitched out of the bullpen in 2022, 2023 and the start of 2024, tossed 137â…” innings last year. A jump to 200 innings for either of those two probably is best approached with caution and care.

That’s not to say the 35-year-old Gray, who has taken a deliberate approach to his ramp up for the season, wouldn’t benefit from easing into the season. Matz has battled injury issues throughout his previous three years with the Cardinals, so extra rest seems a reasonable consideration for his as well.

The increased stress of a six-man rotation on the bullpen shouldn’t be easily glossed over. A six-man rotation means seven relievers instead of eight. That seems like tempting fate and running the risk of wearing out your relief arms.

However, if the Cardinals can count on Matthew Liberatore and Kyle Leahy to cover multiple innings as opposed to one-inning stints and the Cardinals count on Mikolas’ track record as an innings eater to go deep into his starts, it’s not a crazy thought.

Just last week, they added a veteran reliever with a track record of durability and taking the ball in Phil Maton (four straight seasons of 65 appearances or more).

The schedule makes the task of keeping arms rested manageable early in the season. The first three weeks of the season will include a trio of scheduled days off — on Friday, March 28, then on successive Thursdays, April 3 and April 10.

Pushing another reliever to Triple-A to pitch high-leverage innings, perhaps Chris Roycroft, gives the Cardinals multiple options in the minors they can promote and plug into their ’pen. Just this week, they assigned veteran big leaguer Nick Anderson to the minors. If he’s not scooped up by another club, he could join the group of relief arms in Memphis.

Gordon Graceffo remains an option for either relief or as rotation depth. Zack Thompson and Drew Rom had their springs interrupted by injury. If they were healthy, that would make the starting pitching depth feel a bit more comfortable, but the Cardinals still can be bold and aggressive with their decision.

A six-man rotation with McGreevy in it could give the Cardinals a head start on their future.

After all, isn’t that what this coming season is about?