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St. Louis Cardinals: Trevor Rosenthal’s future

By Dan Buffa

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Sep 5, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Trevor Rosenthal (44) waits on the mound as manager Mike Matheny (26) walks out to talk with him during the ninth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the Pirates 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 5, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Trevor Rosenthal (44) waits on the mound as manager Mike Matheny (26) walks out to talk with him during the ninth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the Pirates 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /

Time for devil’s advocate. What if Rosenthal gets hurt? Who shoulders the load and how does that affect Rosie’s future?

Now that my UCB colleagues have spoken, let’s flip the bed completely and play against the good ending. What if Rosenthal got hurt?

Imagine 2016 where Rosenthal goes down? His elbow has taken the assault of close to 2,000 pitches the past two seasons and several of those outings were extremely high leverage and included more changeups. Does the effect of that Matheny weight come crashing down this season? Who takes over in the immediate aftermath of a Rosenthal injury?

Kevin Siegrist is my first pic. He filled in the role nicely last year and has the stuff. The Cards call up a LOOGY in Dean Kiekhefer or Sam Tuivailala and let Siegrist flame on in the 9th. Or, the Final Boss aka Stone Buddha aka Mr. Oh could get his shot if he impresses early on. I can easily see him getting a shot if Rosenthal goes down.

Jordan Walden and Jonathan Broxton(DRINK!) are up there as well. This is a pen of closers ladies and gents. Options abound.

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