Cardinals will stretch out Rosenthal in spring training
Trevor Rosenthal could be getting a chance to crack the St. Louis Cardinals' rotation.
Manager Mike Matheny recently phoned the right-handed reliever to inform him he'll be "stretched out," with the team's regular starters in spring training, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
“In terms of role we're going to see how things go, but we're open to anything," Mozeliak told Goold. "It was something that he has had a desire to do. As we we're looking at all the different moving pieces, it doesn't hurt to have an extra arm, and in the past we've felt like an extra arm would help.
"As you start to think about bullpen structure and multiple innings it makes sense to have people prepared to do more than just a one-inning stint."
Rosenthal has served as the Cardinals' closer since 2014. In 2015, he converted 48-of-51 save opportunities (94.1 percent) while crafting a 2.10 ERA. He couldn't sustain his All-Star level of play this past season, however, posting a 4.46 ERA and recording only 14 out of 18 save opportunities.
While the Cardinals' rotation is essentially set with Carlos Martinez, Adam Wainwright, Mike Leake, and Jaime Garcia, Rosenthal's agent Scott Boras feels his client can still be used in more creative relief appearances, if needed.
"Everybody wants the 'HELP' pitcher - the high-level performance pitcher,” Boras said, according to Goold. "Every club has to have that guy, and they're going to say who is he, what unique characteristic does he have? You're finding that teams that are in the final levels of the playoffs, they all have a 'HELP' pitcher. He's there.
"He can throw in the sixth, seventh. He can close. He can do it."