St. Louis Cardinals: Quiet at the deadline, the Cardinals still have a chance to make noise in October

The St. Louis Cardinals need to establish bullpen roles as soon as possible.

This is something that falls on both St. Louis Cardinals management and the players equally, and it’s clear that they understand how important this is as comments from Brett Cecil a couple of weeks ago suggests.

To me, the weight of this falls most heavily on Trevor Rosenthal. Now that he is seen in the plans for at least the immediate future, the Cardinals need that top-tier reliever potential Rosenthal showed in years past.

At the same time, the coaching staff needs to do a little bit more about Rosenthal’s struggles. He looks like he is aiming 100 mph fastballs, and has a great deal more trouble staying in the strike zone because of it. While Seung-Hwan Oh‘s struggles have been a problem, relying on a now-35-year-old sophomore closer was only going to get the Cardinals so far.

At the end of the day, it’s Rosenthal who is clearly the most talented option in the Cardinals bullpen, so rebuilding confidence in that talent and urging him to challenge batters with his stuff is key. If you can do it before the season ends, you might be able to put a playoff run together. If not, Rosenthal isn’t eligible for free agency until 2019,

As for the rest of the bullpen, the closer will act as the beam that supports it. With the ninth inning established and injuries are recovered from, there will be much more comfort and flexibility in the ‘pen, allowing other guys to find their niches within the bullpen. In particular, Oh and Cecil can finally establish their roles in the seventh and eighth innings.

The bullpen seems like a lost mess now, but a closer to a bullpen can be like what a franchise quarterback is to a football team. The stability at that head position creates a rhythm and a stability that will bring good things. The Cardinals need to find that as soon as they can, preferably with time to gain rhythm for October while actually competing in the division.