St Louis Cardinals: Top 3 Closers in Franchise History
3. Trevor Rosenthal
Sure, Trevor Rosenthal has had his issues recently and we have Tommy John surgery to blame for that. Before he went under the knife, Rosenthal was as feared closer as there was in the game. His strikeout rates have always been through the roof, unfortunately, his walk numbers are somewhat higher than you’d like out of your closer as well.
In 2013 the St Louis Cardinals lost the World Series to the Boston Red Sox. Rosenthal didn’t allow a run in the series in recording one win and one save. The following year he saved 45 games during the regular season and all three wins in the division series win over the Dodgers.
In 2015, Rosenthal was an All-Star with the Cardinals and picked up some MVP votes as he saved 48 games with a 2.10 earned run average. In the past two years Rosenthal saved over ninety games and the Cardinals reliever of choice in the postseason.
The next two seasons he split save opportunities with Seunghwan Oh, and then he went down with an arm injury requiring Tommy John surgery.
Rosenthal makes this list for his two dominant seasons, his prowess in the postseason, and for striking out twelve men per nine innings. There was a day when Trevor Rosenthal was a lockdown reliever in this league, he has since fallen on hard times.