St. Louis Cardinals: Time to install a new closer already on the team

The St. Louis Cardinals are without an official closer thanks to an injury for one and poor closing performance for another. Hope isn’t lost, though, as the next closer is already on the squad.

In recent games, the St. Louis Cardinals have used different arms out of the pen to serve as closer in the absence of Trevor Rosenthal whose season has finished thanks to Tommy John surgery. Rosenthal had filled the gap created by the slumping Seung-hwan Oh. And, in all honesty, the arms put out to close games may illustrate who should fill this role moving forward.

I am not alone in urging that Mike Matheny find a new closer and am not alone in suggesting two names already in the St. Louis Cardinals pen: Tyler Lyons and John Brebbia. Both of these arms have seen action closing games of late which begs that Cardinals Nation take a deep look at these arms.

Starting with Tyler Lyons, the young left-handed pitcher has provided enormous appearances of late from the pen. Here’s a look at his past month’s appearances:

The St. Louis Cardinals, by the way, hold a record of 24-16 when Lyons appears in games. To the question of closing, Lyons has appeared in late innings over the past month or so and illustrated that he can shut the door on these innings.

While only appearing in a few 9th innings, his body of work illustrates that he could and should be given the chance to perform as a closer.

On to Brebbia… This young right-handed pitcher has been amazing since joining the St. Louis Cardinals in May of this season. He is carrying a respectable 2.25 ERA through 40 innings pitched. Unlike Lyons, however, the St. Louis Cardinals are 14-23 in games when Brebbia appears.

Here’s a look at Brebbia’s past month:

Showing great control and- like Lyons- appearing in late innings, Brebbia should get a serious look at closing. Brebbia’s strikeout counts also show an adroitness for coming in and sending batters back to the dugout.

More from St Louis Cardinals News

• Cardinals Rumors: 3 pros and cons of signing Carlos Rodon
• Cardinals: Here is Willson Contreras’ first message for St. Louis fans
• How do the St. Louis Cardinals stack up with Willson Contreras?
• Cardinals: The insane asking price the Athletics had for Sean Murphy
• St. Louis Cardinals: Ask me anything with Josh Jacobs – 12/8

The numbers support either of these arms being considered to close, but if Manifesto continues to perform as he has as manager, the likelihood of actually seeing either as the “closer” is slim-to-none. In my opinion, at least.

What would I do? I would use both of these names as a closer-by-committee based on the batters to be seen. I would install Lyons to close games when lefties were coming to the plate and install Brebbia when righties were coming. That, and/or let Lyons close one day and Brebbia close the other.

All that said, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the St. Louis Cardinals audition Ryan Sherriff from time to time or give Sam Tuivailala a few shots to close should the season seem finished and postseason seem out of reach.

Next: Comparing Grichuk and Schwarber

Again, Matheny is probably unlikely to make these moves (1), and (2) the St. Louis Cardinals need to be winning in order to need a closer. While they have been winning of late, whether this continues or not might decide the actual need for a closer.