The St. Louis Cardinals bullpen was the most valuable unit in the first half of the season. If the team is going to make the playoffs, it needs an encore performance in the second half.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t say enough about what our pen has done. We play a close game every night,” said Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol<\/a> after a 3-2 win over the Pittsburg Pirates on July 4. “They\u2019ve been called on quite a bit and have done their job.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The Cardinals bullpen stacks up well with others in MLB. They have the seventh-best ERA in baseball at 3.50. They have the most saves at 35 and the third most hold with 74 in the league.<\/p>\n \u201cOur bullpen does a really nice job of just keeping you there so the offense feels like they always have a shot to come back and tie it up or take the lead,” Marmol said on July 5 after a 7-6 win over the Washington Nationals.<\/span><\/p>\n The unit gets batters to hit the ball into the ground. They have the second-highest ground-out-to-air-out ratio in baseball, behind only the Giant’s\u00a0bullpen. In all, the bullpen has induced 31 ground-out double plays, the seventh most in Baseball.<\/p>\n While the Cardinals’ bullpen has the fifth-lowest strikeout rate in the League, it doesn’t allow many free passes. The unit has surrendered only 113 walks, the fourth-lowest in Baseball.<\/p>\n \u201cWe continue to see different guys step up in that pen regardless of leverage. They\u2019re just doing the job. So, a ton of credit to that group,” Marmol said on July 4.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The success of the Cardinals closer<\/a> has been well documented through his All-Star<\/a> campaign. Ryal Helsley<\/a> leads the league in saves at 32. He also has a 2.36 ERA on the season.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s fun to be a part of a bullpen where you get it to the ninth with a lead, and it\u2019s about a sure of thing as there is in baseball right now,” said Cardinals reliever Andrew Kittredge on July 6.<\/span><\/p>\n Kittredge<\/a> is one of two Cardinals relievers in the top three of Major League Baseball for holds. He has 25 and is third, while JoJo Romero<\/a> has one more with 26 — tied for the league lead with the Washington National’s Hunter Harvey.<\/p>\nOne Of The Strongest Bullpens In MLB<\/h3>\n
Standouts From The bullpen<\/h3>\n