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The St. Louis Cardinals are starting their push to defend their division crown by adding relief pitcher Steve Cishek to their bullpen in a trade with the Miami Marlins. In return, the Marlins received AA pitcher Kyle Barraclough. Cishek was a 5th round selection by the Marlins in 2007 and is in the midst of his 6th Major League season.
The Cardinals already have the best record in the Major Leagues and hold a 6 game lead over the second place Pittsburgh Pirates. Adding Cishek strengthen an already strong bullpen and he will add depth to a bullpen that just lost Matt Belisle to inflammation in his elbow. The submarine pitcher will be able to take some of the load off of Trevor Rosenthal and he will be available for some situational relief.
Cishek lost the closer role early this season after blowing 4 out of 7 save opportunities by May 11, but he has been one of the better closers in the past couple of seasons, with 34 saves in 2013 and 39 in 2014. Cishek has only given up 3 eanred runs since May 11, and only 1 earned run in 13 appearances since June 1.
Cishek’s contract runs through the end of the season and he will be arbitration eligible in the off season.
All stats are courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com
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