St. Louis Cardinals: Top 3 closers in team’s history
When (and if) the 2020 baseball season gets underway the St Louis Cardinals will not have a clear-cut closer. For this reason, let’s examine the top closers in franchise history.
The revolving door which was the St Louis Cardinals closer’s position in 2019 led to nine different players securing a save. Three different pitchers saved at least six games and you’ve heard the old adage if a team has two closers (or three) they have no closers.
Long gone are the days of the “closer by committee” or even the days when closers regularly pitched more than one inning for a save (apologies to Josh Hader).
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As the Cardinals wait out the Coronavirus scare contemplating who will assume ninth-inning duties this season, let us take a look at the top three closers in Cardinals history.
On the outside looking in: Dennis Eckersley, Bruce Sutter, Todd Worrell
When I think of closers, I think Dennis Eckersley, which is strange as he was a starting pitcher the first eleven years of his career. Eckersley saved 66 career games in two years with St. Louis, all after his fortieth birthday. He gets a token mention because he ranks seventh on the all-time saves list in major league baseball.
Bruce Sutter ranks fourth on the Cardinals all-time save list. He led the league in saves three times and finished with 127 in his four-year Cardinal career. Lack of longevity keeps him out of the top 3.
Todd Worrell led the league in 1986 with 36 saves, helping him win the Rookie of the Year award, but doesn’t crack the top-10 single-season save list in Cards history. In his career, he saved 129 games good enough for third on the team’s all-time list.
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.
St Louis Cardinals: Top 3 Closers in Franchise History
2. Lee Smith
Large, imposing frame. Check. Mean looking scowl. Check. Long right arm dangling almost to the ground as he takes his sign. Check. Same long arm delivering the heat and reaching out like it could grab hitters from sixty-feet six inches away. Check.
Lee Smith checks all the boxes and was a force to be reckoned with as a closer in major league baseball. He brought his talents to the St Louis Cardinals and played just four seasons in the Gateway City, but he accumulated 160 saves in his short time there.
Smith led the league in saves twice, was a three-time All-Star, and finished in the top five twice in Cy Young voting during his tenure with the Birds. His four-year totals included an ERA of 2.90 and a WHIP of 1.15. There hasn’t been a more dominant stretch in a Cardinals uniform for a closer than the four years Smith put together.
Smith left the Cardinals and pitched for a handful of other teams, even leading the league once more in saves in the strike-shortened ’94 season for the Baltimore Orioles. Smith is third on the all-time saves list with 478, a third of those coming in a St Louis Cardinals uniform.
St Louis Cardinals: Top 3 Closers in Franchise History
1. Jason Isringhausen
Jason Isringhausen began his career with the New York Mets as a starting pitcher. Injuries and ineffectiveness derailed his trajectory to stardom and he sat out the entire 1998 season after having his first Tommy John surgery.
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He returned in 1999, pitched some for the Mets and then was traded to the Oakland A’s. It was in Oakland where he established himself as a topline closer, getting selected to the All-Star team in 2000.
Isringhausen began his St Louis Cardinals tenure in 2002 when he saved 32 games and then became the most reliable closer in the team’s history. He served as the team’s closer for seven years before losing the closing duties to Ryan Franklin mid-way through the 2008 season.
Isringhausen saved a league-best 47 games in 2004 and was an All-Star in 2005 when he went on to save another 39 games. He sits atop the all-time saves leader list in St. Louis Cardinals history with 217 lockdowns. His career 2.98 earned run average is solid and inflated from a subpar performance his final year with the team.
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Jason Isringhausen was steady if not solid during his run as the Cardinals closer. After suffering another setback and Tommy John surgery, Isringhausen returned to the Mets in 2011 to save his final seven major league games, giving him 300 for his career.