Closer Problems

The Cardinals took Trevor Rosenthal out of the closer role:

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said he spoke to Rosenthal several hours before the game Saturday against Seattle and notified the righthander he would have a different role in the coming weeks. The Cardinals will turn to a committee of potential closers, using Seung Hwan Oh, Kevin Siegrist, and Jonathan Broxton to handle Rosenthal’s responsibilities until one seizes the role, or Rosenthal returns to it.

“Right now the ninth inning is a tough ask,” Matheny said. “That’s a volatile spot. You come in there and you’re either a hero or a goat, one of the two. And it’s never easy being there. Physically, he feels good. He’s just not getting the results that he wants. So we need to tinker for a little bit. For us not to do something a little different at this point – we thought he was getting closer. I still think he may be. Right now, we need to make a little bit of an adjustment.”

Rosenthal is striking out batters at a phenomenal rate, but he walk rate is through the roof. He walked a ton of batters in 2014, but still was able to save 45 games. If he can get his walk rate down just a bit, he should be able to return to closing.

from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/29cfoU7