Cardinals double All-Star total with another first-time selection

After weeks of being upset at fans for the lack of support for deserving all-stars, the St. Louis Cardinals were awarded another honoree. With pitching schedules interrupting the festivities for a trio of already selected All-Stars, Cardinals closer Riley O'Brien was named as a replacement. The selection to the Midsummer Classic is the first of the 31-year-old's career.

O'Brien will join Jordan Walker in Philadelphia for the All-Star festivities but both first-timers will have to wait for their chance to appear in the game. After Walker missed out on the first round of fan voting and an inconsistent month for O'Brien, both needed to be selected by MLB and are deserving of the honors.

Riley O'Brien earns an All-Star selection despite recent struggles

There is no guarantee that either Walker or O'Brien will get some playing time in Philly and with Oli Marmol on the National League coaching staff, the Cardinals manager may get the final say. If he wants to keep them healthy for a second-half run or give O'Brien a little extra rest, both players could potentially be visiting Citizens Bank Park as spectators. A week for a mental and physical reset could do well for the closer as his last two months of work has left fans wondering if his hot start was a fluke.

In the first 15.1 innings of O'Brien's campaign, the finally healthy righty tallied eight saves and an ERA just over 1.00. The biggest step forward came with his command as he struck out 17 hitters and walked just one through April. The month of May brought back some of his old issues, however, and despite still notching six saves, he walked three and hit three more while giving up seven earned runs in 10 innings. He was still getting the job done, but it was hardly clean and created cause for concern.

This concern made some fans turn towards trading the reliever after conversations about if the four years of control was too good to get rid of. Even at 31-years-old, O'Brien just passed one year of service time after battling injuries for much of his professional career. In June, the talk of holding O'Brien became less as his struggles even created worry about him holding the closer role. Over 10 June innings, the closer grabbed another seven saves, but a 1.60 WHIP made all of his appearances nail-biting.

With the rest of the bullpen struggling as much, if not more than O'Brien, he is at little risk of losing his spot as the team's closer. Behind him, JoJo Romero is a likely trade candidate and Ryne Stanek had an injury scare during another busy inning against the Brewers. George Soriano has been good, but may have to be used in a firefighter role, especially if Matt Svanson continues to struggle in the big leagues. Chaim Bloom finally called in some reinforcements for the last stretch before the All-Star break, but there will be more churning through some arms before the season comes to a close.

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