St. Louis Cardinals: Top five standouts so far this season

5) Trevor Rosenthal lights-out early on

While the love and adoration of national baseball fans remain solely focused on the likes of Craig Kimbrel and Drew Storen in terms of closer options in today’s game, Trevor Rosenthal somehow manages to fly under-the-radar (at least to some degree). And, to be frank, I’m not sure how.

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The hard-throwing right-hander ranks second in all of baseball with a dozen saves, and has been nothing short of amazing in his 17 appearances, during which he’s allowed a mere two earned runs.

Rosenthal is averaging 11.5 strikeouts-per-nine, shy of the career-best mark of 12.9 he set back in 2013, and he has done remarkably well at keeping opposing hitters off the base paths altogether. He’s pitched to a 0.889 WHIP, allowing a mere five hits per nine, as well.

The St. Louis closer has been just a small part of a dominant relief corps, but don’t doubt his importance. Having a lights-out man to hand the ball over to in the ninth changes everything and, regardless what some may think, Rosenthal is one of the game’s best.

Next: 4) Another day, another stellar young talent