The Cardinals have won five straight series and seven of their last 10 games, but in doing so it has exhausted many of the arms in their bullpen. They head into a Phillies series loaded with playoff implications while trying to figure out how to close out games with a short-handed 'pen.
The good news for the St. Louis Cardinals is that they are going into arguably their biggest series of the season against the veteran-laden Phillies playing some of their best baseball of the season with five straight series victories and wins in seven of their last 10 games.
The bad news, however, is that the Cardinals are about to face the suddenly surging Phillies with their bullpen on fumes and in need of an off day that won’t come until Monday. That could portend bad results with Cardinals starting pitchers continuing to struggle to get through lineups a third time and Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Luis Arraez dead ahead.
Evidence of that bullpen fatigue came on Thursday when the Cardinals saw a 4-0 lead over the Reds disappear when veteran reliever Ryne Stanek grooved a splitter and Cincinnati’s Matt McLain drilled a go-ahead grand slam. Then, after the Cardinals were gifted new life when center fielder Dane Myers dropped the potential game-ending fly ball and they scored six times to build a 10-5 lead, set-up man George Soriano and All-Star closer Riley O’Brien surrendered four runs and five walks in a bananas bottom of the ninth that somehow ended with the Cardinals winning 10-9.
Manager Oliver Marmol, who has said repeatedly how much he wants this young and feisty Cards team to reach the postseason, stressed that relievers have been willing to work more than usual in the name of winning.
“Here is the reality to it -- our guys in the back end of our 'pen have taken the ball and done a really nice job," Marmol said to Cardinals TV after his club took three of five from the Reds. "You look at this series, we ran through (relievers) and some games they didn't even give up a hit. But they're human and (Thursday) that came out because they're tired.
"But they want the ball because they know we have a chance at (making the playoffs). At the end of the day, we're going to take every shot to spray champagne on each other. They want the ball, but they're tired. We were able to figure out a way to win and get out of (Cincinnati)."
Here is the bullpen reality that the Cardinals (66-63) are staring at as they take on the Phillies (70-58) and sit 2 ½ games out of the final Wild Card slot in the bunched-up National League standings:
· O’Brien, who has already appeared in a career-most 53 games and has racked up 33 saves in 38 opportunities, has picked in four of the last six days.
· Soriano, who walked three batters in Thursday’s ninth inning, has worked in four of the past seven days. The changeup specialist, who is 6-3 with 19 holds, has shown troubling signs of wear and tear of late as he’s now appeared in 58 games – 32 more than his previous career high of 26 in 2023.
· Stanek, who notched one of his biggest moments of the season on Aug. 11 in a 2-0 win over the Phillies when he worked out of a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam, has worked in four of the last six days. The 35-year-old right-hander has racked up a team-best 24 holds this season, but he’s already at 57 appearances. He’s 2-2, but his ERA has climbed to 4.68.
· Left-hander Justin Bruihl, who has taken on a much more significant role after losing JoJo Romero at the break for the MLB All-Star Game – first because of an appendicitis and later his trading to the Brewers – and has appeared in 57 games – 30 more than his previous career high in 2023 when he pitched for the Dodgers and Rockies. Having worked just three of the past six days, Bruihl is almost certain to see a heavy workload in the next few days against a Philadelphia team with several talented left-handed hitters.
· Young pitchers Gordon Graceffo and Luis Gastelum have each worked in three of the past five games, and they could be called upon to cover high-leverage innings – and maybe even closing duties – in the three games against the Phillies. Graceffo, a converted starter, is 7-1 with a 3.16 ERA this season while appearing in a career-most 51 games. As for Gastelum, he has had some struggles making the transition from Triple-A to the big leagues, but he showed encouraging progress in the past week by using his fastball and sweeper more to set up his devastating changeup.
What could help the bullpen is Cardinals’ pitchers working deeper into games. Hunter Dobbins (3-3, 3.42 ERA), Andre Pallante (12-6, 3.57 ERA) and Kyle Leahy (10-4, 3.24 ERA) are scheduled to face off against Jesus Luzardo (11-5, 3.23 ERA), Andrew Painter (2-8, 6.43 ERA) and Cristopher Sanchez (16-4, 2.51 ERA) in the series.
The Cardinals have the fourth-most starts of six-plus innings (51) and the fourth-most Quality Starts (47) in the National League this season. During their 12-6 run that has gotten them back into the playoff mix, their five starters have posted a 2.98 ERA. However, high pitch counts and struggles facing lineups a third time through have forced relievers into the game earlier than usual, leading to the fatigue that the collective bullpen is facing heading into an all-important series against a Phillies team that has won six in a row and eight of 10. Those two losses, of course, came at the hands of the Cardinals at Busch Stadium last week.
