St. Louis Cardinals: Trevor Rosenthal agrees to deal with Nationals

Former St. Louis Cardinals reliever Trevor Rosenthal will be packing his bags and heading to Washington after striking a deal with the Nationals.

Following his Tommy John surgery Trevor Rosenthal was released by the St. Louis Cardinals. He focused on his rehab, and used Twitter to hype up his return, and it worked. His high speeds were on display as he was on the road to recovery.

Eventually, Rosenthal did a showcase for several teams, and the Cardinals were in attendance. However, the team was not expected to pursue the right handed bullpen anchor. There was not much time to change their mind, as Bob Nightengale reported the news of Rosy’s new deal.

Why Washington?

Well for starters, his pitching coach is there. Prior to the 2018 season, the St. Louis Cardinals replaced Derek Lilliquist with former Nationals pitching coach Mike Maddux. So, the Nationals thought it best to replace Mike Maddux with former Cardinals pitching coach Derek Lilliquist.

The point being that Rosenthal did not pitch under Maddux, but he did under Lilliquist. Now, he is reuniting with his old pitching coach.

Coming off of Tommy John surgery, he will not be getting a closer role, and it might have been tough to find a place to jump into a high leverage role. However, with Washington he might have found it. The Nationals have Sean Doolittle closing out games, but there is a solid chance that Rosenthal can slide into a set up role.

It just seems to be the move lately for players to leave the St. Louis Cardinals and head to Washington. Greg Holland might be proud captain of that ship after posting a 7.92 ERA with the Cardinals and a 0.82 with the Nationals in just four less innings.

Bye Bye Rosy

We will miss Trevor Rosenthal, and best of luck to him in Washington. Every player has their ups and downs and Rosy was not excluded from that. But he did pitch in some big moments for the team and he was untouchable at his best. He will do great things for the Nationals.

This leaves the St. Louis Cardinals with Jordan Hicks as the fireballing presence in the bullpen. We will be just fine, though I know I will always dream of a bullpen anchored by Rosenthal and Hicks.