St. Louis Cardinals’ Need for Late Inning Reliever Growing Desperate

The St. Louis Cardinals have one glaringly obvious need that is becoming more and more evident every night.

Last night was just another example of the St. Louis Cardinals‘ need for a late inning reliever growing even more desperate. What seemed like a comfortable lead quickly evaporated when Michael Wacha was in his third turn through the Miami Marlins lineup.

Wacha allowed three runs in the sixth to make it a 5-3 game, allowing the Marlins right back into the game. Then in the seventh inning, the always unreliable Jonathan Broxton allowed a run to make 5-4.

The point here is that the St. Louis Cardinals have not one reliever they can rely on to come in and put out a fire in the mid to late innings as Kevin Siegrist and Seung-hwan Oh have been pigeon holed into the eighth and ninth innings. 

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The loss of an effective Trevor Rosenthal has wreaked its havoc on this bullpen and while many may believe Wednesday night was the result of Mike Matheny having too much faith in Adam Wainwright. However, being that it was the seventh inning, Mike didn’t have much options to go to in the pen against a hitter like Yoenis Cespedes.

Adam Wainwright did have a high pitch count, but Matheny trusted him ahead of a rookie in Dean Kiekhefer, an ineffective Broxton, and a Seth Maness who isn’t the same pitcher we have seen in years’ past. 

So, it’s almost as if Mike Matheny and the St. Louis Cardinals need a guy that they can use to get outs in the sixth and seventh innings of games when the starter can’t go six or seven innings. This doesn’t mean that the Cardinals need to go after a guy like Andrew Miller or Wade Davis.

A solid middle reliever is what this team needs. There has already been interest  in the Anaheim Angels’ Joe Smith, who may not be having his best season, but has been an effective reliever in the past.

However, with the Rays currently scouting the St. Louis Cardinals’ farm system, maybe there could be a deal had for Alex Colome or Matt Andriese, the two best relievers on Tampa’s roster.

Next: Is the Cardinals' pitching carousel indicating a trade?

Whoever it is, the Cardinals have to plug this hole if they want to be a successful team that not only makes the playoffs but succeeds in the playoffs.