The period of Trevor Rosenthal being the Cardinals closer has long passed.
Because of that, Cardinals have attempted to convert Rosenthal into a starter and place him in the main rotation. However, complications have now arisen, and it seems unlikely that he will be in the rotation. Moreover, it puts his chances of being a long-inning reliever in jeopardy as well.
“I would say that role is very appealing to our manager,” said Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak on Sunday morning. “Therefore, who wears that hat – I think the interesting thing is there could be a couple of people who could go multiple innings. That’s favorable. When you think about coming into camp, you’re trying to create that kind of depth. I believe we’ve accomplished that.”
Rosenthal, who turns 27 in May, has been hindered with a lat muscle issue, and has been working to build up his arm strength as the regular season is only mere weeks away. When Alex Reyes went down due to having to undergo Tommy John Surgery, the last spot in the starting rotation became fair game for any pitcher.
The depth that St. Louis has in the bullpen gives them the ideal chance to look at pitchers who could potentially fill that spot. According to multiple sources, some of those pitchers include: John Gant, Matthew Bowman, Miguel Socolovich, Tyler Lyons and Sam Tuivailala. Gant has really impressed some thus far in Spring Training, but the spot is open for anyone.
Added into the fact that there’s non-relievers such as Luke Weaver in the mix, it becomes a jumbled mess.
As for Rosenthal, it’s sad to see the decline of a pitcher who just two years ago set the Cardinals franchise record for saves in a season with 48. On June 25 of last year, after his ERA had risen to 5.63, he was removed from the closer role, replaced by rookie Seung-Hwan Oh.
While it is a role he will most likely not see while in a Cardinals uniform again, once he gets healthy, the possibilities are endless for Rosenthal.
