The St. Louis Cardinals received a boost to their bullpen with Thursday’s return of Trevor Rosenthal.
Rosenthal hadn’t pitched for the Cardinals since July 24 because of shoulder and forearm injuries.
This comes at an ideal time for St. Louis, which had won just six of its last 14 games entering Thursday’s action while falling behind the New York Mets in the National League wild-card race.
The former closer has had a rough season, compiling a 5.13 ERA with a 2-4 record and four blown saves. However, he noted his pitching accuracy wasn’t what it should have been while he was dealing with the injuries.
“Even with the injury, I felt my arm strength was there,” Rosenthal explained, per Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “It was just being able to make pitches and command counts. That’s more important than the arm strength, and having that feel back is going to be what helps me get outs.”
The 26-year-old has proved himself in the past, compiling a 2.10 ERA with 48 saves last season while earning his first All-Star Game appearance and accumulating some NL MVP votes in the process.
St. Louis will hope Rosenthal is not only healthy, but also as effective as he was in 2015 as the team tries to secure a playoff berth down the stretch.
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