St. Louis Cardinals: Waiver arms the Cards should consider claiming

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SEATTLE, WA – AUGUST 11: Yusmeiro Petit #36 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim celebrates closing out the game to beat the Seattle Mariners 6-5 in the ninth inning at Safeco Field on August 11, 2017 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Lindsey Wasson/Getty Images) /

The St. Louis Cardinals, despite making no moves before the trade deadline, are reportedly still seeking bullpen help. There are arms who have cleared waivers who the Cards should consider claiming.

The St. Louis Cardinals are on a roll. As of the writing of this slideshow, the Cardinals have just completed a six-game win streak. Six games! This streak is thanks to an explosive offense that has finally arrived, and a lucky cat (unlucky to the grounds crew member) spurring (“purring”) the Cards to victory.

The win streak is also thanks to a bullpen that seems to be solidifying. Roles are becoming clearer and within those roles, arms are achieving the results that they expect. Among these, Seung-hwan Oh and Trevor Rosenthal have seen a return-to-form.

Oh, the weaker of the two resurgent pitchers, has cut down on the hits and home runs that he was giving up. Rosenthal, on the flip side, has returned to his closer form and Mike Matheny has placed him back in this ninth-inning role.

The bullpen has also been aided by the return of Zach Duke. Can you believe that this lefty-specialist who underwent surgery in the offseason and who wasn’t supposed to be able to pitch this season at all has returned and is actually making appearances?! His return was almost the equivalent of a trade addition.

Adding to these, the disabling of Kevin Siegrist has come as a welcomed addition-by-subtraction. Matheny, in his erred bullpen management, refused to find a different “patron pitcher” than Siegrist (save for Matthew Bowman). This forever-called-upon arm was ridden to extreme and almost fell off. Siegrist’s tired arm had lost its abilities to pitch well even if Matheny couldn’t see it.

Sending Siegrist to the DL will makie him better, allow him to rest, and keep Matheny from ruining another pen arm.

All of these improvements are making big differences. And yet, the St. Louis Cardinals are rumored to be seeking bullpen help through the waiver wire. There are a few arms who have cleared waivers with whom the Cardinals should take interest. Let’s take a look.

CINCINNATI, OH – JULY 14: Drew Storen #31 of the Cincinnati Reds pitches in the eighth inning against the Washington Nationals at Great American Ball Park on July 14, 2017 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Washington shut out Cincinnati 5-0. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images) /

The St. Louis Cardinals essentially have two closers in the 2017 pen already, but adding one more might not be that bad of an idea.

The St. Louis Cardinals, having now found that Rosenthal has returned to his closer form, may not need another closer, but could benefit from having an arm that might slot in toward the end of the pen. Enter then Drew Storen.

Storen made his MLB debut in 2010 and now has 6.14 years of service under his belt. This debut came with the Washington Nationals where he served as a dominating closer/back-of-pen arm for six years.

In January of 2016, Storen was traded by the Nationals to the Blue Jays for Ben Revere and a PTBNL. He appeared in 38 games for the Jays in 2016 before being sent to Seattle for cash and Joaquin Benoit. At the end of the 2016 season, Storen was granted free agency and was picked up by Cincinnati in January of 2017.

With Cincinnati comfortably in the basement of the NL-Central, Storen was placed on waivers after the July 31st deadline and has now cleared the revocable piece. Storen, while not as shut-down as he once was, could well be an interesting arm for the St. Louis Cardinals pen.

Storen is not an innings-eater so the St. Louis Cardinals would likely use his right-handed arm for situational pitching and/or in the eighth inning. Storen is comfortable in the eighth inning this season where opposing hitters are batting only .158 with a BAbip of .190.

Just for the record, Oh- who is now in the 8th inning role- has hitters batting .273 with a BAbip of .333 for 2017. In 2016, Oh held hitters to an average of .192 with a BAbip of .298 in the 8th inning. This illustrates how Storen could bring the pen back into a great alignment and bolster the 8th inning.

True, Storen is a free agent at the end of 2017 but perhaps the St. Louis Cardinals can help him build his numbers again and decide to sign him/extend him as a solution to the likely-departing Oh. The real trick would be to get him from the Reds who could revoke his waiver should the Cards make place the claim.

PHILADELPHIA, PA – JULY 30: Jim Johnson #53 of the Atlanta Braves throws a pitch in the eighth inning during a game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on July 30, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies won 2-1. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images) /

The St. Louis Cardinals, if not interested in Storen, may look elsewhere for another closing arm.

While they do not need a closer, as was discussed in the previous slide, the St. Louis Cardinals might look to another team to grab a back-of-the-pen arm with closing experience. Enter Jim Johnson.

The St. Louis Cardinals were kind to the Atlanta Braves earlier this season by providing them a left-handed slugger to man first base while Freddie Freeman was on the disabled list. Matt Adams, who struggled this season for the Cards, has exploded for the Braves. Surely, they thank the Cardinals for this.

Johnson has cleared waivers but no one has grabbed him (yet). If the Cardinals have any interest in a closing arm, Johnson should be at the top of that list. This All-Star who recorded 51 saves in 2012 and then followed this by recording 50 saves in 2013, has recorded 22 saves this season already.

Many believe that his waiver has already been revoked since no team has claimed him. That doesn’t mean that this has happened but with his stats, it would make sense for a team to grab him which is why many believe him to go nowhere.

Whether he is or is not available, the St. Louis Cardinals should place a claim. Adding a dominant arm like Johnson- who has recorded 54 strikeouts this season already (on his way to besting his season-best of 68)- could assist the bullpen and could help the Cardinals climb into the postseason.

In addition, Johnson would be more than a rental as he is under team control through 2018. This is yet another reason that some believe his cleared waiver has already been revoked.

TORONTO, ON – JULY 29: Yusmeiro Petit #36 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim delivers a pitch in the first inning during MLB game action against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on July 29, 2017 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /

The St. Louis Cardinals could use an arm in the pen who could carry a load of innings should a game need it.

This season, the St. Louis Cardinals have turned to Tyler Lyons for long-relief when pitchers like Adam Wainwright and Michael Wacha have exited games early. Joining Lyons, Mike Mayers has bounced between St. Louis and Memphis to fill in this role as well.

Laying out on the waiver wire is right-handed relief arm Yusmeiro Petit. Petit could immediately fill in the Mayers role with much more dominance and a greater amount of MLB experience.

Should the Cardinals believe that Mayers is not the long-relief solution in the pen from the right side, then Petit is the way to go.

Petit is having a great season in 2017 for the Los Angeles Angels. He is commanding a 2.39 ERA through 67.2 innings pitched. In addition, he has recorded 74 strikeouts while only surrendering 13 walks.

Starting on July 21, 2017, Petit went on a six-game stretch of multi-inning appearances. He pitched two innings, three innings, four innings, then three appearances of two innings pitched. In these six outings, Petit has surrendered 12 hits but allowed only two runs.

With the aging core of the St. Louis Cardinals rotation, a long pen arm like Petit would be a nice addition. Moreover, Petit would be very inexpensive for the Cardinals as he is a free-agent-to-be who is owed the remaining balance of his $2.25M contract.

If he were to come to St. Louis and show the same abilities that he is showing in Los Angeles, the Cardinals would be wise to attempt to sign Petit beyond 2017. This should be considered and a 2017 claim should be made right away as Petit could help in 2018 as well with the likes of the return of Alex Reyes and supposed rise of Luke Weaver— a lengthening arm could be necessary.

ANAHEIM, CA – APRIL 11: Bud Norris #20 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pitches during the seventh inning of a game against the Texas Rangers at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on April 11, 2017 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

The St. Louis Cardinals have the opportunity to add a pitcher who once gave them troubles.

When he pitched for the Houston Astros, as a starter, Bud Norris was kryptonite to the Cardinals batters. He is now serving in a pen role for the Los Angeles Angels and would be a nice addition to the St. Louis Cardinals pen.

After what looked like a great start to his career on his way to being an outstanding starter, Norris was traded at the deadline by Houston to the Baltimore Orioles in 2013. Baltimore eventually lost trust in Norris after he accrued his career-high hit-batters number of 14 in 2014 and they released him in August of 2015.

The San Diego Padres held Norris for the balance of 2015 but nothing beyond as Bud struggled to find his form through 16.1 innings and the Padres released him at the conclusion of the 2015 season.

He was signed to the Braves for the 2016 season where he appeared in 70.1 innings and remained around his 4.00 ERA (actually ending his Braves tenure with a 4.22 ERA). One month before the deadline of 2016, Norris was once again on the move in a trade. He was sent to the Los Angeles Dodgers where he struggled through 42.2 innings.

Norris was released by the Dodgers in September of 2016 after earning a 6.54 ERA. Despite his rough outings over the past few seasons, Norris is still well regarded as a strikeout arm. In 2016 he recorded 102 strikeouts out of the pen and has raked 56 Ks this season with the Angels.

On the down side of things, Norris has surrendered 23 earned runs of which seven were home runs this season. These negative stats have lead to his being placed on waivers and having cleared those waivers.

Could Norris, the one-time Cardinals kryptonite be the next St. Louis Cardinals reclamation piece? This free-agent-to-be would and could be looking to improve his numbers and the Cardinals could benefit from his return to the NL-Central. I doubt that the Cardinals would look to sign him beyond 2017, but he could be a nice addition to the pen for situational management.

I rank Norris fairly low on the likely scale, but his availability is one that the Cardinals should consider.

KANSAS CITY, MO – APRIL 30: Pitcher Matt Belisle #9 of the Minnesota Twins pitches during the game against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on April 30, 2017 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

The St. Louis Cardinals have the chance to welcome back an arm that developed within the organization for a season and who is now a strong pen presence.

The St. Louis Cardinals were once home to pen arm Matt Belisle. He is now playing for the Minnesota Twins but has been placed on and cleared waivers. With the Twins still in the mix for a wild card spot, he may likely not be on the move but this shouldn’t stop the Cards from placing a claim.

Over his career, Belisle has amassed 879.2 innings pitched and hovers around the 4.50 ERA mark. This doesn’t make him terribly attractive to too many teams but he has been a somewhat solid mark in the bullpen. He is trusted by managers and, in fact, appeared in as many as 80 games (high career-high mark) in 2012 while with the Colorado Rockies.

Looking just at this season, Belisle has held opposing batters to a .091 batting average over the past 28 days. He has done well when used early in games from the pen and not so well when he is used at the end of the pen. The Cardinals could slot him into the role that Siegrist was filling despite his being a right-handed pitcher.

Belisle was roughed up early in 2017 and has had to climb out of a miserable ERA since May. In May and early June, Belisle’s ERA ballooned to an embarrassing 9.00 ERA but he has worked steadily to decrease this to his current 4.34.

While I don’t believe that the Twins will part ways with Belisle, I do think the St. Louis Cardinals would be wise to take a stab at this former Birds-on-the-Bat pitcher. Belisle appeared with St. Louis in 2015, pitched 33.2 innings, recorded a 2.67 ERA, and held batters to a 2.66 average. Could he see these numbers return with a return to Busch?