The St. Louis Cardinals bullpen has been the weak point of the team so far\u00a0this year. After a blown lead last night in a 6-5 loss to the Giants, there is some reason for concern for a team fighting to contend in the strong NL Central division.<\/p>\n
The Cardinals entered 2017 looking like they would have a strong bullpen this season. \u00a0Seung-hwan Oh<\/a><\/strong> was one of baseball\u2019s best closers after he took over the role for St. Louis last season.\u00a0 After an injury plagued 2016 season, former closer Trevor Rosenthal<\/a><\/strong> was set to inherit a set-up role similar to Andrew Miller<\/a><\/strong>. Newly acquired lefty-specialist Brett Cecil<\/a><\/strong>, who the Cardinals signed to a four-year, $30.5 million deal to in the off-season, also improved the bullpen, and\u00a0Kevin Siegrist<\/a><\/strong> was in line to maintain his spot in the back end of the bullpen.<\/p>\n With a group of pitchers like that ready to go in\u00a0late-game situations, the Cardinals were confident about the bullpen at the onset of this season. The bullpen was considered a strength of the roster, but things have looked very different since March.<\/p>\n The Cardinals sputtered to a 3-9 start to begin the season, and nothing seemed to be working. The opening stretch has been the low point of the season so far, and this early season skid was not aided by the bullpen.\u00a0 Rosenthal began the season on the disabled list, Oh looked shaky late in games, Cecil struggled to get anybody out, and Siegrist saw a dip in velocity and struggled with command early on.\u00a0 Matt Bowman<\/a><\/strong>, in an early season surprise, was the one good option out of the bullpen.<\/p>\n Things finally began to get better.\u00a0 Bowman kept pitching well.\u00a0 Rosenthal came back strong with numbers similar to his 2015 season.\u00a0 Oh closed out games efficiently, picking up five saves over the course of one week in the Cardinals bounce-back effort from a sluggish start.\u00a0 Cecil, although still not living up to expectations, began to pitch more effectively, and Siegrist began fixing his problems.<\/p>\n Despite these improvements, there have only been a couple of truly consistent pitchers in the bullpen.\u00a0 Rosenthal, with the exception of his tough outing in a loss to the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday, has been the one reliable option late in games.\u00a0Rosenthal has been consistently terrific since his return from a back injury.\u00a0 Routinely hitting 100 miles per hour on the radar gun, he has amassed 27 strikeouts in 15.1 innings with only four walks. Rosenthal’s FIP sits at a career-low 1.14, and he has been far more effective than any other St. Louis reliever.\u00a0 Along with Rosenthal, Bowman is the other consistent arm of the group.\u00a0 Although a couple of tough outings raised his numbers since his terrific start to the season, Bowman still remains one of manager Mike Matheny<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s most trusted arms in close\u00a0games.\u00a0 It is with the rest of the bullpen where the problems begin for the Cardinals.<\/p>\n The issues with the bullpen involve Cecil, Siegrist, and Oh.\u00a0 Cecil has been downright awful this season with\u00a0a 5.65 ERA and a\u00a0WHIP over two. \u00a0He has 18 strikeouts, nine walks, and has allowed 20 hits and three home runs over 14.1 innings pitched.\u00a0 It gets worse against left-handed hitters \u2013 the main reason for which Cecil was signed.\u00a0 The lefty-specialist has allowed left-handed batters to hit .448 against him this season.\u00a0 Every home run against him has been hit by a lefty, and lefties are slugging an alarming .897 off of him.<\/p>\n Siegrist and Oh have also been inconsistent.\u00a0 Siegrist\u2019s overuse the last couple of years seems to have caught up to him. Although he has looked better in the last week or so, he is still struggling. \u00a0Oh is still sorting out some command issues, as he does not look quite as sharp as a season ago.\u00a0 He has 10 saves so far, but he has already allowed three home runs and is walking batters at a much higher rate than in 2016.\u00a0 Out of 19 appearances, he has only five games in which he did not allow a runner to reach base, which is not great for a closer. Hopefully Oh will fix his problems, but do not be surprised to see Rosenthal utilized more in the\u00a0closer role and possibly retake it this season.\u00a0 There is hope as Siegrist has been great over his last 10 appearances or so, and Oh still has the talent that led him to a remarkable rookie year last season.\u00a0 These two finding success can go a long way in helping out St. Louis.<\/p>\n In all, the Cardinals have reason for concern with the bullpen, but there are still signs of hope.\u00a0 For those other than Cecil, things are not as bad as they seem.\u00a0 Overreactions to some bad early season appearances have led to unwarranted criticism. Even though there are some issues still to be sorted, the Cardinals have the weapons to improve.<\/p>\n Main Photo:<\/p>\nEarly Season Struggles<\/h3>\n
Reasons for Hope<\/h3>\n
Reasons for Concern<\/h3>\n