JUPITER, Fla. — There was no surprise announcement, no special speech or sermon when manager Oli Marmol informed Sonny Gray he would be the St. Louis Cardinals Opening Day starter.

Gray simply thanked his skipper, gave him a hug and said, “Let’s go.”

Business as usual for the staff ace.

Gray will indeed start the Cardinals season opener March 27, Marmol announced Sunday morning. The announcement was not as much news as it was a formality: There was zero question any pitcher but Gray would be toeing the mound for game No. 1.

“He’s our dude,” Marmol said with a smile.

What transpired after the announcement was much more pressing than the announcement itself. Gray’s outing against the Miami Marlins was abysmal. He appeared in five innings but only completed one. The Cardinals pulled Gray in four consecutive frames from the second inning to the fifth. He was tagged for six hits, eight earned runs, five walks and five strikeouts while recording just nine outs against a Marlins lineup that didn’t exactly pack much star power but still beat the Cardinals 11-5.

Rough outings in spring happen, and rarely are they signs of concern. But Gray has faltered in all three of his Grapefruit League outings so far. He’s allowed six home runs over 9 1/3 innings, his velocity is slightly down and he’s lacked control of most of his pitches.

Still, Gray is not all that worried about how he’ll fare in the regular season.

“It’s spring training,” Gray said. “It ultimately doesn’t matter. Get yourself right so when Opening Day and the regular season gets here, that’s what matters.”

The usual caveats apply here. Spring training results have no impact on regular-season performance. Different pitchers are working on different things. Routines are established in which results aren’t always the top priority in games. Gray is certainly no exception — and given his unique preferences and extreme detail in his preparation — is probably more of an example of this than most.

“This is my 15th spring training, so yes I’ve done it all,” Gray said. “I’ve had incredible spring trainings where I didn’t give up a run for however many games I’ve pitched and had horrible seasons. I’ve had horrible spring trainings and had great seasons. I’ve not made it out of spring training and have had great seasons. I’ve literally experienced it all.

“It ultimately does not matter,” he reiterated. “You just do what you can do, get your stuff done and get out of here.”

Gray was pulled from four innings because he was planned to see five “ups” — which is how pitchers describe starting a new inning. Marmol and pitching coach Dusty Blake were mindful of Gray’s pitch count (he threw 80 on Sunday), and were balancing that with the number of innings Gray needed to begin to stay on track with his throwing program.

“We were going to get five ups,” Gray said. “It was just a roundabout way of getting there. Physically, I feel great.

“It was weird, but whatever. Who cares? Spring training is a weird place.”

Gray will make one more spring start, likely the penultimate game before the Cardinals break camp (March 22 against the Miami Marlins). When asked after Sunday’s game what he made out of Gray’s outing, Marmol said “not a whole lot.”

“In talking to Sonny, he’s confident he’s in a good spot,” Marmol added. “And I trust him as much as anyone.”

The Cardinals open the season at Busch Stadium against the Minnesota Twins, Gray’s former team. He’ll face off against former teammate and good friend Pablo López, who was named Minnesota’s Opening Day starter before spring training began.

This will be Gray’s fourth Opening Day start, but his first for St. Louis. Gray was tabbed the 2024 Opening Day starter early in camp last year, but a hamstring strain in March sidelined his Cardinals debut until early April. His previous Opening Day nods came for the Athletics in 2013 and 2014 (Gray was scratched from his 2016 Opening Day start due to food poisoning) and the Cincinnati Reds in 2020.

“It’s a huge honor,” Gray said. “I definitely don’t take it for granted.”

Marmol has an idea of how the first half of the rotation will line up behind Gray. If their current throwing schedule holds, Erick Fedde and Miles Mikolas look poised to follow Gray. The latter half is still up in the air, though Marmol said he is close to finalizing who will round out the final two spots in their starting five: Andre Pallante, Steven Matz, Matthew Liberatore and Michael McGreevy are all in the mix. The club will have “one more” conversation Monday regarding the rotation and make its decision from there. Marmol also said he will have his Opening Day roster finalized by the time the Cardinals break camp March 23.

That roster became closer to form over the weekend. After Sunday’s game, the Cardinals optioned Michael Helman, Thomas Saggese and Matt Koperniak to Triple-A Memphis, bringing their spring roster total to 29 major-league roster players and two non-roster invitees.

INF Michael Helman, INF Thomas Saggese and OF Matt Koperniak have been optioned to Memphis (AAA).

With Alec Burleson and Luken Baker slugging their way onto the Opening Day roster, the Cardinals have reserved their final bench spot for a utility player. Over the last week, that position battle began to focus on Jose Barrero and José Fermín. Saggese was not in consideration for the bench role, as the Cardinals believe he is best suited where he can play every day. The club’s inability to trade Nolan Arenado, along with its promised at-bats to Brendan Donovan, Nolan Gorman and Burleson, made that impossible for Saggese at the big-league level.

Koperniak met the same fate, regardless of his impressive offensive camp where he went 11-for-31 with two homers and six RBI. The Cardinals will already have at least five left-handed hitters on the roster (Burleson, Gorman, Donovan, Lars Nootbaar and either Michael Siani or Victor Scott II). Their outfield is also jammed enough, with the club planning to use a mix of Nootbaar, Walker, Siani or Scott, and Donovan. Essentially, Koperniak was forced off the roster because his skills were redundant to the rest of the roster. The Cardinals already have a slew of left-handed hitting corner outfielders and could not fit one more.