With reliever Matt Belisle being placed on the 60-day disabled list, the Cardinals looked to add another strong pitcher to their bullpen.
Enter reliever Steve Cishek.
On Friday, the Cardinals traded AA Springfield reliever Kyle Barraclough for Cishek (and picking up his salary) in the process. This season, Cishek has not had as good of a season as he has in the past, posting a Cishek is 2-6 with a 4.50 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 32 appearances in 32 innings pitched during this season.
The 29-year old Cishek was drafted by the Marlins in the 5th round of the 2007 amateur draft, and made his MLB debut on September 26, 2010.
He pitched in only three games during his rookie campaign. In 2011, he was featured more in his second season, playing in 45 games, posting a 2-1 record, garnering three saves, pitching 54.1 innings, and had in ERA of 2.63.
During the 2012 season, Cishek had one of his better seasons, with a record of 5-2 (which to date, is his highest win total in his career), a 2.69 ERA, while striking out 68 batters. The following year, Cishek posted his lowest ERA total, 2.33. In 69 games, he had a record of 3-6, garnered 34 saves, and threw just under 70 innings.
Cishek has earned 94 career saves in 108 attempts, and has a career record of 17-20.
One thing to note regarding Cishek is his price: according to Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan), Cishek is going to be expensive in arbitration. Makes $6.65M this year, meaning at minimum he would make $5.32M next year.
But the Cardinals are well set in handling his contract and salary situation.
It is being reported that Cishek will be used as a setup man for closer Trevor Rosenthal. The role has been split between many pitchers in the loaded Cardinals’ bullpen, including Seth Maness, and Kevin Siegrist, among others.
(Photo credit: marlinmaniac.com)
