St. Louis Cardinals: The effect of a Rosenthal injury

Things went from bad to worse last night in Boston after the St. Louis Cardinals blew a lead and lost their closer.

Last night, the St. Louis Cardinals may have lost more than just a game. Depending on news today, they may have lost their closer for an extended period. Trevor Rosenthal came into last night’s game looking to close out another save and get the Cardinals back on the winning path. Unfortunately, for Rosenthal and Cardinal fans, that wasn’t the case.

It was obvious very early on something wasn’t right. Rosenthal, the known flame thrower was not hitting the numbers everyone had become accustomed to. Up until last night, Rosenthal’s average pitch speed was just over 98 MPH. Last night, his fastest pitch came in at 95 MPH and the pitch Xander Bogaerts sent out of the park, a 91 MPH fastball.

These numbers are frightening for a pitcher who throws with such force. Rosenthal will be evaluated today for tightness in his arm. As the team awaits news on Rosenthal, there will be new plans to put into place. When Rosenthal took a firm grip on the closer’s role, other pieces started falling into place. Now, there is potential for a big shake up to be needed.

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The Cardinals do have a few internal options if Rosenthal is going to miss an extended period of time.

The most surprising name might be Tyler Lyons, the former starter/long reliever has etched out a significant role in the bullpen over the last few weeks.

Whether or not management will be willing to put Lyons in such a role remains to be seen but the production is there.

Another option is John Brebbia, the 27-year-old rookie has been exceptional when given his opportunity. His 2.16 ERA and .81 WHIP would slide nicely into the closer role. The only question is, can Brebbia handle the pressure of being the go to guy?

It isn’t too late for the St. Louis Cardinals to make a move. If they feel that they need more than just a stop-gap in the bullpen they can look to other teams to help fill the void. Our own Dr. Miles wrote about a few options the team should look at here.

Next: Rotation in trouble

Until the official word comes out on Rosenthal there will be speculation. Knowing Mike Matheny, it is questionable who the closer is until the opportunity in the ninth arises and we see who comes trotting out of the bullpen. Hopefully, this will not be a long-term injury and a huge blow to a team that just got back into a tight NL Central race.