Is Trevor Rosenthal following Jason Motte's career path?

Stop me if you've heard this one before--guy spends most of the season as a setup man, then the incumbent closer struggles, opening the door for him to take over.

Back in 2011, that guy was Jason Motte.  This year, that guy appears to be Trevor Rosenthal.

First, a bit of history.  Back in 2011, the Cardinals were struggling to find a closer after incumbent Ryan Franklin imploded in April.  The Cardinals tried a few different guys, such as Mitchell Boggs and Eduardo Sanchez, before Fernando Salas stepped up and took hold of the job.

Salas was very good as the Cards closer, with only 3 blown saves in 25 tries through August 11th.  However, a couple blown saves in a row and some excellent pitching by Motte, who threw 33 consecutive scoreless innings, led manager Tony Larussa to make the change.

Motte earned his first save on August 28th.  He finished the season with 9 and was the Cardinals closer throughout the playoffs and World Series.

Fast forward to 2013 and it appears that Rosenthal is in the same boat.

The Cardinals lost Motte to TJ surgery in April and scrambled to find a replacement.  They tried Mitchell Boggs (again) before Edward Mujica stepped up and claimed the role.

Mujica was excellent for the Cards for most of the season, saving 35 games with only two blown saves through the end of August.  However, general fatigue has led to general ineffectiveness for Mujica and he has blown 2 of 4 saves in September, leading Matheny to indicate that he would go with a closer by committee.

Enter Rosenthal, who came on last night to record a 2-out save, the first of his career, and has the stuff to take hold of the role and never let go. 

Although Matheny is saying that he is going with a committee approach, I would be shocked if Rosenthal is not "the guy". 

The last 5 games of the season could be his trial period and, if he succeeds, look for Rosenthal to be closing in the postseason.

Edward Mujica out as Cardinals closer?

After blowing another save last night, the Cardinals appear to be removing Edward Mujica from the closer role going forward.

Per Jennifer Langosch, the Cards will not use Mujica tonight and the closer spot will be "fluid going forward".  There are various candidates to fill the closer role (e.g. Trevor Rosenthal, Kevin Siegrist) and game situations may determine who gets the call.

This news comes on the heels of Mujica's admission that he is experiencing "overall fatigue". 

After being lights out for the first 5 months of the season, its obvious that something was wrong with Mujica as he has posted a 9.45 ERA in September and blown 2 out of 4 save chances.  In 6.2 innings over 8 appearances, he has given up 15 hits, 2 walks and 2 homers. 

The Cardinals will likely try to give him a breather for a few days and then put him in some low pressure situations to see how he responds.  At this point, its about getting him back on track in time for the playoffs.

Although the Cardinals say that they will determine the closer based on game situation, Rosenthal is the logical choice to replace Mujica.  This final week may be Rosenthal's audition for the 2014 closer role (and beyond).

I think he will do just fine.

Cardinals conundrum: What will be Carlos Martinez' role in the second half?

According to Derrick Goold, the Cardinals will spend some time over the All Star break assessing what to do with Carlos Martinez. 

After optioning Martinez down to AAA on May 27th to stretch him out as a starter, the Cardinals recalled him on July 11th to give the team a fresh arm in the pen before the break.  However, what was originally considered a temporary assignment may now become a more permanent one.

There are various factors that come into play here, the foremost being what makes the most sense, both for the team and for Martinez' development. 

As GM John Mozeliak states:

"We have to assess what makes the most sense. He’s electric. I definitely don’t want him to go backward in terms of how much he has built up (as a starter). As we look at the next two or three weeks is there enough usage to justify keeping him here?”

In addition, Mike Matheny sums up the difficult decision like this:

 “We do really like what he brings as a starter. For his development, it’s better for him to be prepared to start. It’s tough to weigh. We know he wants to be here. We like having him here. We think he can help us. But there is more that goes into the decision.”

As Matheny says, there are other factors at play here as well.

For instance, a lot might depend on how Chris Carpenter fares in his rehab.  He makes his first start tonight for AA Springfield and if he progresses, the need for Martinez as a starter decreases.


Also, will the Cardinals be able to find Martinez enough work?  Prior to being moved into the starting rotation, Joe Kelly worked as the long reliever in the pen, the role that Martinez would likely take over.  In the first two month of the season, Kelly only threw 18.2 innings, which would have put him on pace for about 55 innings.  Hardly enough innings to allow a youngster like Martinez develop properly.

I think that the best option for the Cardinals and Martinez would be to send him back down to AAA to start. Although the Cardinals might not need another starter this year, they will certainly be looking for starters next year, with Jake Westbrook likely heading to free agency and the 5th starter spot still up in the air.  Martinez could be one of the favorites to claim a starting role next year, but only if he's given time to properly develop this year. 

However, the Cardinals may have already made their decision, as they optioned Keith Butler to AAA today.  Butler, a righthander like Martinez, was unscored upon in his last 8 appearances, yet the Cards sent him down anyway, a possible indication that they have decided to keep Martinez.

In any case, I hope that if the Cardinals have decided to keep Martinez in the pen, it won't hamper his long-term development.

Desperate for a fresh arm in the pen, Cardinals recall Carlos Martinez

After another short outing by starter Shelby Miller, which required Seth Maness to pitch 2 innings and Edward Mujica to pitch his 6th consecutive game, the Cardinals needed a fresh arm in the pen. Thus, Carlos Martinez was recalled today, with Michael Blazek being sent to the minors.

This is likely just a short-term stint for Martinez, who will likely head back to Memphis during the All-Star break to continue his work as a starter.

GM John Mozeliak described Martinez' role as "bullpen innings eater", when asked by Bernie Miklasz. So, Martinez will likely fill the long reliever role that Maness has occupied, while Seth gets a chance to rest.

I don't normally like it when teams shuttle pitchers up and down from their AAA club, especially one as talented as Martinez.  I think it can affect their development and Martinez needs work to develop a third pitch to go with his blazing fastball and excellent curve.

However, as this appears to be just a short-term move, mostly out of necessity, it should not have much affect.  Martinez should return to AAA to continue his work as a starter and provide depth for a struggling starting rotation. 

Joe Kelly is currently the 5th starter and Chris Carpenter is set to begin a rehab assignment on Monday, but neither one is a sure thing.  In addition, the recent struggles of Miller and Lance Lynn have raised concerns about the Cardinals pitching staff, and rightly so.

Bottom line, the Cardinals need Martinez stretched out at AAA as another option should one of the current starters falter.

Cardinals sell low on Mitchell Boggs?

One year after leading the NL in holds with 34, the Cardinals appear to have sold low on Mitchell Boggs, trading him for cash, international signing bonus cash to be exact.

According to Scott Miller of CBSSports.com, the Cardinals traded Mitchell Boggs to the Colorado Rockies for their International Signing Bonus slot #4, which is worth only $206,400.

Doesn't seem like a lot for a pitcher who just last year was one of the best setup men in the NL, but there is more to this move than just the international money.

First, thanks to the success of their rookie relievers, Boggs had become expendable.  As Rick Hummel points out, the rookie quintet of Trevor Rosenthal, Seth Maness, Keith Butler, Michael Blazek and Kevin Siegrist have been stellar.  In 96 innings, they have a combined 1.88 ERA with 102 K's. 

These guys have been a big part of the Cardinals bullpen resurgence.  After having the worst team bullpen ERA in April, thanks in large part to Boggs, the Cards pen has shown steady improvement over the last couple months, moving all the way up to 7th in the NL with a 3.52 bullpen ERA. 

Also, in addition to the international cash, the Cardinals rid themselves of Boggs' $1,475,000 salary for the rest of the year (about $737,500).  This was a sunk cost for the Cards, as it was unlikely that Boggs would make it back to the majors with the team, so to be able to dump his salary on the Rockies as well as getting a little extra international cash on top of it was a win-win scenario.

So, after a day of cleaning house for the Cardinals, including releasing Ty Wigginton, it will be interesting to see what the team's next move is.

Cardinals could use a spark, but from where?

The Cardinals ended the month of June with an uninspiring 14-14 record. 

The main culprit has been the once reliable starting pitching.  After dominating for two months, all of the starters, save for Adam Wainwright, posted ERA's above 4.00 during June.  

But the pitching isn't the only thing that should shoulder the blame.  The offense has also been inconsistent, often showing a feast or famine tendency. 

Its obvious that the Cards could use a spark to get them rolling again, but from where?

Here are the possibilities:

Trades

With the calendar turning to July, the trade market is sure to pick up.  If the Cardinals want to help their beleaguered starting rotation, there are plenty of starters on the market. 

However, two of the top sellers of starting pitching at this year's deadline reside in the NL Central (the Cubs and Brewers) and the Cards have said that trading within the division is "not desirable".

The Marlins have made Ricky Nolasco available and the Astros have Bud Norris on the block, but is either one enough to provide the boost the Cardinals need?

The Cards could always go "all-in" and trade for the Phillies' Cliff Lee, but it would likely gut their farm system in the process.  Would the Cardinals mortgage their future for Lee?

Minors

The most obvious way to spark the Cardinals offense would be to replace the struggling John Jay with Oscar Taveras.  However, Taveras has been dealing with an ankle injury for the last month and currently resides on the 7-day D.L.  Once healthy, he could be a viable option later this month.

Another possibility is to call up Carlos Martinez for the starting rotation and put Lance Lynn in the bullpen.  Lynn appears to be going through the same mid-season funk that he did last year, posting a 4.83 ERA in June.  However, despite his struggles, he has still managed to go 3-1 for the month.

Martinez could also be used to replace Jake Westbrook in the rotation.  Westbrook had the worst month of any starter still in the rotation, posting a 5.32 ERA while going 2-2 in his 4 starts.  Westbrook could possibly then be used as a trade chip with another contending team.

My guess is that the Cardinals will just make minor trades here or there, either adding an arm for the bullpen or finding a right handed bat for the bench and hope that the regulars get back on track.  But, if the team's struggles continue through July, don't be surprised to see Taveras or Martinez called up by the end of the month.

Are the Cardinals pursuing Jonathan Papelbon?

We're not even to July yet and the rumors are already flying around the Cardinals.

The latest involves Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon. 

According to Nick Cafardo, the Phillies believe there are at least 3 teams--the Red Sox, Cardinals and Tigers--that may have some interest in their closer.

From a purely "win now" standpoint, Papelbon would make sense for the Cardinals.  He is having an excellent season, with a 1.46 ERA in 24.2 innings to go along with 13 saves.  He would definitely help shore up the back end of the Cardinals bullpen and likely push Edward Mujica back to his 7th inning role from the beginning of the season.

However, there is some baggage that comes with Papelbon.  Namely he is owed another $26 million on his contract for 2014-2015, plus a potential vesting option for 2016 for another $13 million.  A pretty steep price for a pitcher on the wrong side of 30.

Ever since Jason Isringhausen and the Cards parted ways after the 2008 season, the Cardinals have been very frugal when it comes to finding their closer, typically filling the position from within.  That's not to say that they definitely wouldn't pursue Papelbon, but it seems to go against their philisophy.

In addition, you have to consider the cost in terms of the prospects it would take to land Papelbon.  I'm guessing the Cardinals might have to part with one of their top prospects, such as Kolten Wong.

Finally, Mujica has been perfect in his save chances so far this season.  If it ain't broken, why fix it?

Add it all up and I think its highly unlikely that the Cards will pursue Papelbon.  If the Cardinals are going to part with one of the top prospects, I think its more likely that they will pursue an upgrade to their starting rotation.  Otherwise, they will probably target a lesser reliever that will not cost as much.

Cardinals bullpen in danger of being overworked

After yesterday's 14 inning affair that saw the Cardinals use 5 relievers, including 4 (Seth Maness, Trevor Rosenthal, Edward Mujica and Keith Butler) for 2 or more innings, the Cards bullpen is in serious danger of being overworked.

Tonight, the Cardinals plan on using Joe Kelly to start against the Diamondbacks, in what will likely be another bullpen affair.  Kelly, who has not been stretched out since beginning the season as the Cards long reliever, is unlikely to last more than 4-5 innings, meaning the bullpen will have to be relied upon heavily again.

For teams with a lot of bullpen depth, both at the major and minor league level, this is not an issue.  But for a team like the Cardinals, who have had bullpen issues all season, this could spell trouble with a capital "T".

The Cards have tried to alleviate this problem by recalling Maikel Cleto from AAA and sending Victor Marte down.  However, Cleto's track record doesn't inspire confidence and its unlikely that Mike Matheny would use him in a pressure situation. 

So, if its a tight game tonight, who will Matheny turn to?  Trevor Rosenthal, who has been used heavily all season, including pitching 3 innings the last two days?  Edward Mujica, who was extended to two innings last night instead of his normal one inning save duties.

Only Randy Choate and Cleto are "fresh" and ready to go for tonight's game.  Beyond that, its anybody's guess as to who will get the call.

One thing is for sure, the Cardinals better hope that Shelby Miller and Adam Wainwright can give the at least 7 innings the next two nights so the bullpen can get some much needed rest.

Where would Cardinals be without their rookie pitchers?

Beset by injuries, the Cardinals have had to turn to the farm system early and often this year.

Normally, when you're dealing with young and unproven players, the results are at best mixed.  However, so far the Cardinals rookies have come through.  The latest example being Tyler Lyons, who started for the Cardinals last night and hurled 7 innings while allowing only 1 run.

Although Matt Adams and Pete Kozma have helped the Cardinals offense, the biggest impact that the rookies have had is on the pitching staff.  So far this season, the Cardinals have utilized 6 rookie pitchers, including 3 starters and 3 relievers.

The rookie starters, led by Shelby Miller and recently joined by John Gast and Tyler Lyons, have gone 8-3 with a 2.16 ERA and 74 K's across 75 innings. 

The relievers, led by Trevor Rosenthal along with Carlos Martinez and Seth Maness, have posted a 2.83 ERA with 45 K's in 38 innings.

This gives the rookie pitchers an overall record of 11-3 and a 2.38 ERA in 113 innings. 

Not too shabby.

Better still, the Cardinals have yet to utilize their top pitching prospect, Michael Wacha, thereby keeping his service clock from ticking.

Its nice to be able to tap into your farm system and get quality results and it is a big part of the reason the Cardinals are in first place in the NL Central with a 30-16 record.

The Cards rookies may still take some lumps this year, as teams get a book on them, and when that happens, we'll see who can adjust and who cannot.  But, so far, I like what I have seen.

Bad news for Cardinals pitchers Jaime Garcia, Jake Westbrook and Fernando Salas. Eduardo Sanchez claimed on waivers

It was another rough couple days for Cardinals pitching.

First, according to Jennifer Langosch, Jake Westbook had to cut his bullpen session short today after 20 pitches due to experiencing more discomfort in his elbow.  Its unclear as to how long this will set him back or what the next step will be. 

This follows up the news that Jaime Garcia is likely done for the season, as he will undergo shoulder surgery.  Combined with the news on Westbrook, the calls for Michael Wacha will only get louder. 

Second, Fernando Salas had to be placed on the DL yesterday, with what is described as right shoulder irritation.  This is a tough blow for an already shaky bullpen.  Salas was one of the bright spots so far this year, with a 3.86 ERA in 16.1 innings. 


Finally, Eduardo Sanchez was claimed off waivers by the Cubs.  Once considered one of the Cardinals top 10 prospects by Baseball America and a potential closer, Sanchez saved 5 games for the Cards in 2011 before elbow and control issues set him back.  He has since been leap-frogged by guys like Trevor Rosenthal, Carlos Martinez and others.

With the Cardinals needing to make room for tonight's starter, Tyler Lyons, on the 40-man roster, Sanchez was the odd man out.  I would have liked to see someone else go, especially given the Cards bullpen issues, however, the Cardinals have obviously lost patience with Sanchez. He should have more of an opportunity with the rebuilding Cubs going foward.

Overall, not a good day or so for the Cardinals.  Their pitching keeps taking hits and yet the team continues to find ways to adapt.  The Cards pitching depth is certainly being tested this year.

Should we be concerned about Mike Matheny's overuse of Trevor Rosenthal?

After a bumpy start to the season, Trevor Rosenthal has settled into his setup role nicely.  Since April 24th, he has allowed only 1 unearned run in 9.2 IP.  He has seen his ERA drop from a high of 5.00 on April 17th to the current low of 2.42.

However, despite his run of success, there is one thing that concerns me, Mike Matheny has been using Rosenthal A LOT.

Rosenthal has appeared in 23 of the Cardinals first 44 games, which puts him on pace for about 85 appearances for the year.  While it is not unheard of for a team to use a pitcher that much, its rare for a team to do that to someone under the age of 25.  Since 2000, only 4 pitchers under the age of 25 have appeared in more than 81 games in a season:  Oscar Villareal, Matt Capps, Jonathan Broxton and Joe Smith.

Oscar Villareal appeared in 86 games in his rookie season at the age of 21.  He reported a sore elbow the next spring and later developed rotator cuff issues and has not been the same pitcher since.

Matt Capps appeared in 85 games as a 22 year old rookie in 2006.  He then appeared in 76 games in 2007.  In 2008, he experienced shoulder bursitis and missed nearly two months.

Jonathan Broxton appeared in 83 games in 2007 at the age of 23.  He pitched in 70 and 73 games the next two seasons before finally showing signs of wear and tear in the 2010 season, when he posted a 4.04 ERA in 64 games.  Then, in 2011, he experienced elbow issues, which knocked him out for 5 months of the year.

Joe Smith was 24 when he pitched in 82 games in 2008.  He then missed a little more than a month in 2009 with a strained rotator cuff.

So, of the 4 pitchers I found under the age of 25 who pitched in more than 81 games, all 4 of them experienced arm injuries following that season.  Two of them experienced those injuries the next year and the other 2 experienced their injuries after continued overuse.

I admit this is a small sample size, but could this be the relief pitcher equivalent of the "Verducci Effect"?

For his part, Matheny is not concerned, saying "He’s one of the physically strongest guys we have. If we find it’s affecting him, we change course. He prepared to be a starter this year. He prepared for 200 innings. We’re not going to give him that.  But we’re going to give him an opportunity to help us win. And that’s what he’s been helping us do.”

Sure, Rosenthal prepared to be a starter this year, but there is a big difference between throwing 200 innings as a starter--when you are on a set routine, pitching every 5th day--and throwing 85+ innings, with no routine and sporadic rest. Rosenthal recently pitched in 3 straight games and 4 out of 5 days before getting yesterday off.

I can understand why Matheny is using Rosenthal so much.  The Cardinals bullpen has been a mess and Rosenthal has been one of the few bright spots in the pen. Matheny wants to win and Rosenthal gives him the best chance of doing so.

However, Matheny needs someone else to step up and lessen the burden on Rosenthal before its too late.

Who will be sent down when Mitchell Boggs returns for the Cardinals?

From all appearances, Mitchell Boggs' stay in the minors will not be a long one.  Sent down on May 3rd to work on his mechanics (and get his confidence back), Boggs seems to be doing just that.  So far he has pitched 5 innings without allowing a run.

Thus, it probably won't be long before the Cardinals call on him again.  He's just too good of a pitcher to leave in the minors.

But, when he's called back up, who will the Cardinals send down?

Here are 3 most likely possibilities:

Joe Kelly

Kelly has struggled so far this year, posting a 7.11 ERA in 12.2 innings.  Part of the problem may be that he doesn't appear to have a clearly defined role.  After starting the season as the long man in the pen, he was rarely used, in part due to the success of the Cardinals starters.  Mike Matheny has tried him in other spots, but his use has been sporadic.

In addition, after starting the spring as a candidate for the 5th starter spot, it appears that he was not considered to fill in while Jake Westbrook is on the shelf. 

Perhaps the Cards could send him back to AAA to stretch him out in case Westbrook's injury takes longer to heal and/or John Gast can't fill the gap (although he seemed pretty good last night).

Carlos Martinez

After visa issues delayed the start of his season, Martinez made just 3 starts for AA Springfield before he was called up to help shore up the Cardinals pen.  Despite one rough outing, in which he gave up 3 runs in 0.2 innings, Martinez has looked pretty good. 

However, when Boggs comes back, the Cardinals may no longer need Martinez' power arm in the bullpen and could send him back to AA to continue his development as a starter.

Seth Maness

Maness has been pretty impressive since joining the Cards pen, throwing 4.1 shutout innings while allowing only one hit.  A control pitcher, he pitches to contact and has an impressive 10.0 GO/AO ratio (i.e. he's inducing a lot of groundouts).  He has even added two vulture wins to boot.

Maness appears to be filling the long reliever role that Kelly was suppose to fill. 

However, despite his success, the Cardinals could still return him to the minors to stretch him out as a starter in case another need arises.

Prediction

My feeling is that the promotion of Martinez and Maness was only suppose to be a temporary thing until Boggs got his head on straight.  Thus, I predict that Martinez will be sent down once Boggs returns.  Martinez needs to continue to develop as a starter and keeping him in the majors this year will only delay that development.

Of course, the Cardinals will likely face this issue again when (or if) they feel Marc Rzepczynski is ready to return.  Based on their performances so far, I think the Cards would likely keep Maness over Kelly, as Seth has been the more effective pitcher.  But that could change by the time "Scrabble" is deemed ready.

Cardinals continue bullpen overhaul: Mitchell Boggs optioned, Carlos Martinez called up

After yesterday's outing in which he gave up two walks without retiring a batter, the Cardinals had seen enough of Mitchell Boggs and demoted him to AAA to sort out his issues.

To take his place, the Cardinals called up another one of their flame throwing prospects, Carlos Martinez, from AA Springfield.  Martinez, who had the start of his season delayed by visa issues, has only pitched 11.2 innings this season, posting a 2.31 ERA. 

Martinez, who can reach 100 mph with his fastball, will be following Trevor Rosenthal's career path.  After working as a starter throughout his minor league career, he will get his first taste of the big leagues as a reliever. 

It appears that the plan is for Martinez to be the 7th inning guy for the Cards, bridging the gap between the starters and the Trevor Rosenthal/Edward Mujica finishing combo.  If he succeeds in that role, it will hopefully allow Mike Matheny to reduce the workload on Rosenthal, who is on pace to pitch in 92 games.

Martinez certainly has the stuff to succeed in the pen.  In their 2012 Prospect Handbook, Baseball America stated that Martinez has the "ingredients to become a frontline starter or a closer." 

The concern here is that, like Rosenthal, Martinez could get pigeonholed into a relief role.  While not necessarily a bad thing, pitchers were their kind of stuff are generally more valuable if properly devloped as starters.

That said, this should be only a temporary role for Martinez, who could return to the minors to continue his development, once Boggs gets things sorted out.

In related bullpen news, it was announced today that Jason Motte will undergo Tommy John surgery next week.  Motte had been progressing with his throwing program before experiencing discomfort after throwing Friday.  I, for one, wish him a speedy recovery.

Meet Seth Maness: Control artist extraordinaire.

OK, I'll admit it, I'm a big fan of Seth Maness.

He isn't one of the Cardinals top prospects.  He barely cracked Baseball America's top 30 for the Cards, coming in at #23.

He doesn't have a power arm.  While guys like Trevor Rosenthal, Shelby Miller, Lance Lynn and Carlos Martinez can all throw in the upper 90's, Maness tops out at 90 mph, on a good day.

But what Maness does have that most power pitchers lack is pinpoint control.  We're not talking the "good" control label that scouts often use to describe pitchers who walk maybe 2 batters per 9 IP.  No, we're talking PINPOINT control, as in 0.7 BB/9 in his 247.2 minor league innings.

Last year, Maness pitched 169.2 innings and walked just 10 batters, giving him a 0.5 BB/9 as well as an incredible 11.20 K/BB ratio.

Color me impressed.

So, when the Cardinals announced that Maness would get the call to try to help sort out the Cardinals bullpen issues, my thoughts went back to another Cardinals control artist, Bob Tewksbury.

For those of you who don't remember Tewksbury, he too was a control artist who, after bouncing between the minors and majors for several years, put it all together in a 6 year stretch with the Cardinals from 1989-1994.  During that time, he posted a 3.48 ERA for the Cards (108 ERA+), including his incredible 1992 season in which he went 16-5 with a 2.16 ERA.

Yet, with all of his success with the Cardinals, he only posted a 3.8 K/9 ratio.  What allowed him to be successful was his low 1.5 BB/9 ratio, including two years (1992 and 1993) when he posted an 0.8 BB/9 ratio.

To put that a bit more in perspective, since 1950, only 4 pitchers have posted a BB/9 ratio below 0.8:  Carlos Silva, who had an insane 0.43 BB/9 ratio in 2005, Brett Saberhagen's 0.66 BB/9 ratio in 1994, Cliff Lee's 0.76 BB/9 ratio in 2010 and Greg Maddux's 0.77 BB/9 ratio in 1997.

Maness could have similar success with the Cards.  His minor league BB/9 ratio of 0.7 is actually lower than Tewksbury's (1.9).  So, while it took a while for Tewksbury to master his art, Maness seems to have already mastered it.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Maness can do at the major league level.  He may take his lumps early on, but I think if he can show the same kind of pinpoint control that he displayed in the minors, success will come.

Cardinals continue to tinker with their pen. Call up Seth Maness.

After a weekend series with the Pirates that saw the Cardinals pen give up 11 runs in 8.1 IP, the Cards made a move today to try to shore things up.

The Cardinals called up right handed, control artist Seth Maness from AAA Memphis and optioned Marc Rzepczynski to AAA. 

This is not to put the blame for all of the Cards bullpen issues at Scrabble's feet.  But the Cardinals needed a fresh arm in the pen and Scrabble wasn't cutting it as a lefty specialist.

Will this fix the Cardinals bullpen issues?  Probably not.  There is more to the problem than just Scrabble's ineffectiveness. 

First, we still need to get Mitchell Boggs back on track.  However, the Cardinals cannot just option him to Memphis to get things sorted out.  He would have to clear waivers first, which isn't going to happen.  Thus, Boggs needs to figure it out at the major league level.

Second, the Cardinals still need to sort out their 7th and 8th innings guys.  After dominating last year, Trevor Rosenthal has been extremely hittable this year so far, making it hard for Mike Matheny to rely on him in pressure situations.  However, due to lack of better options, Matheny must rely on him to handle the setup role.

As for the 7th inning, the Cardinals recently tried Joe Kelly in the spot (on Saturday) and he proceeded to give up 4 runs in 0.1 IP. 

Of course, when the Cardinals are winning games 9-1, like they did on Friday, you can hide your bullpen issues.  But, short of Friday's game, the Cards offense has struggled a bit lately.  With leadoff man John Jay hitting only .226/.278/.357 on the season, the Cards offense is missing its reliable table setter from the last couple years.

Yet, despite all these issues, the Cards find themselves sitting at 14-10 and only 1/2 game behind the Pirates for the Central lead. 

So, I guess things could be worse.

With bullpen struggling, Cardinals are starting to consider other (internal) options.

With the Cardinals closer questions apparently being answered by Edward Mujica, who has converted all 3 of his save chances, the Cards are still looking to shore up the rest of their bullpen.

As of today, the Cardinals have a bullpen ERA of 5.37, last in the majors.  Most of this can be attributed to Mitchell Boggs, who struggled when placed in the closer role and has yet to sort things out.  If you remove his 12.46 ERA in 8.2 IP, the Cardinals bullpen ERA is a more respectable 3.74. 

However, the problem is that Boggs was expected to play a major role in the Cards pen.  He was the main setup guy last season and, before Jason Motte's injury, he was expected to fill that role again this year. 

With his struggles, Trevor Rosenthal has had to step up into the setup role, a role that he finally appears to be getting use to.  After, blowing two saves a little over a week into the season, Rosenthal has managed 5 holds since then.  He is still trying to find himself, as he hasn't been as dominant as he was last year (15 hits allowed in 11.2 IP), but he seems to be acclimating to his new role.

But, with Mujica moved to the closer role and Rosenthal handling the 8th innning duties, the Cards are still looking for a 7th inning guy.  Boggs could be that guy, if he gets things sorted out, but if he doesn't, the Cardinals will look at other options.

One such option, as Bernie Miklasz points out, it to swap the roles of Joe Kelly and Boggs, make Kelly the 7th inning setup guy and move Boggs to the long-relief role.  This would give Boggs time to sort out his issues while giving Kelly a chance to show what he can do in a more prominent role. 

Another option that Miklasz discussed would be to move Lance Lynn to the pen and call up a starter from AAA (Michael Wacha or John Gast).  However, the Cardinals starters have been just fine, posting a 2.38 ERA (tops in the majors), so its unlikely that Mike Matheny would want to mess with his rotation.  If it ain't broke....

Finally, the Cardinals could call up Carlos Martinez to fill a setup role.  Joe Strauss speculated that this could happen in a recent interview.  Martinez has closer type stuff, but just recently made his first start of the minor league season after arriving in the U.S. late due to visa issues. 

My feeling is that the Cardinals should try Kelly in a setup role and move Boggs to long relief.  I think this is the best option at the current time, as it gives Boggs time to sort out his issues while giving Kelly a bigger role.  If things don't work out, then Plan B should be to give Carlos Martinez a try.

In any case, there is still work to be done to sort this all out.  The Cardinals could always shock the world and pull off a trade. Strauss tweeted recently of a possible April/May trade (please, anyone but Carlos Marmol!!!).  But, until that happens, the Cards will have to make due with what they've got.