St. Louis Cardinals Best/Worst Case 2016: Trevor Rosenthal

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Jul 3, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Trevor Rosenthal (44) after giving up a run during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Kane-USA TODAY Sports /

Worst Case: Rosenthal regresses and issues more free passes than ever

Most might believe the worst case scenario for Rosenthal in 2016 would be for his arm to blow out and have to get Tommy John surgery. While that would certainly hurt the Cardinals this season, it wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen.

The Cardinals have plenty of former closers who could take the reigns for a year if Rosenthal was shelved with Tommy John surgery. And as pessimistic as it sounds, for a guy who throws as hard as Rosenthal the case of having Tommy John surgery may not be if but when. Now, I’m not wishing that upon the closer and hope as much as the next Cardinals fan that he never has to go under the knife. But what would be worst for the Cardinals in 2016 is if Rosenthal did a complete 180 and had his worst statistical season to date.

Imagine the drama and anxiety of those save situations in 2014 and multiply that by about 100. It’s the recipe for disaster, and it would put Cardinals fans in a frenzy and Mike Matheny in a tough situation of having to possibly boot Rosenthal out of the closer role.

Imagine if Rosenthal saved just 30 games this season and had an ERA and FIP over 3.50 as well as a career-high 5.8 BB/9. This would be the worst scenario for the Cardinals because it would leave them with a lot of questions about their all star closer moving forward in his career with St. Louis.

Still there? Shake off those nightmarish thoughts and hang with me. My 2016 prediction for Rosenthal is bright.

Next: My Prediction

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