Trevor Rosenthal

Trevor Jordan Rosenthal (born May 29, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent.

He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Washington Nationals, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals and San Diego Padres.

A power pitcher, Rosenthal is known for a fastball that is difficult for hitters to pick up and reaches velocities at or over 100 mph. He throws and bats right-handed, stands 6 ft tall, and weighs 230 lb.

From the Kansas City metropolitan area, Rosenthal attended Cowley Community College in Arkansas City, Kansas, playing shortstop for the Cowley Tigers.

He was also the first to be the 2,000th player for any Major League franchise.

Twice briefly sent back down to Triple-A during the season, Rosenthal returned to St. Louis on August 29 and remained the rest of the year, ending the season with seven straight scoreless appearances.

The Cardinals selected him in the 21st round of the 2009 amateur draft and he became a starting pitcher in the minor leagues.

In the major leagues, he has pitched exclusively out of the bullpen, filling middle relief, set-up, and closing roles.

In 2009, the team qualified for the Junior College World Series.

When Cardinals scout Aaron Looper first spotted Rosenthal, he was a shortstop who had just started pitching – he had totalled 4 2⁄3 innings pitched (IP) at that time — and was throwing well over 90 mph off the mound in a tournament.

Looper watched him for just one inning in that tournament.

Cardinals director of scouting Jeff Luhnow remarked that “Looper thought he had ability and could get better, had great arm action, great stuff and was pretty good today but could get a lot better.”

The Cardinals drafted Rosenthal in the 21st round of the 2009 MLB Draft.

He signed for $65,000.

The club first assigned him to the Gulf Coast League (GCL) in 2009, where he made 14 appearances for the GCL Cardinals and posted a ground ball rate of 58%.

The next season, he moved up to the Johnson City Cardinals of the Appalachian League and spent the season there.

He pitched in 10 games, starting six over 32 IP.

Posting a 3–0 record (W–L), Rosenthal finished with a 2.25 earned run average (ERA), striking out 30 (SO), allowing just one home run and a 3.27 ground ball/fly ball ratio (G/F).

He also posted a ground ball rate of 68%.

Said Cardinals general manager (GM) John Mozeliak of Rosenthal: "We realized we had a talent early on, when we sent him to Johnson City. Then when he went to Quad Cities, we knew exactly what we had because he really took off there."

Rosenthal's 2010 and 2011 performances earned an invite to St. Louis Cardinals spring training in 2012 where his fastball lit up radar guns and the faces among club officials.

Although Mozeliak, manager Mike Matheny, and others stated that Rosenthal was ready for the major leagues, a lack of space on the roster saw him start the season with the Double-A affiliate Springfield Cardinals.

He started the Midwest League All-Star Game.

At Springfield, he started 17 games and tallied 94 IP, 83 SO, a 1.106 WHIP and a 2.78 ERA.

He made his Major League debut later that season and also pitched three games for the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds.

In the minor leagues, Rosenthal has appeared in 66 total games, making 48 starts, accumulating 285 1⁄3 IP, 237 hits allowed, and 98 BB for a 3.53 ERA and 1.174 WHIP.

He also posted 293 SO for a ratio of 9.2 K/9.

Rosenthal spent 2011 with the Quad City River Bandits, then a Cardinals Class-A affiliate, helping them to a Midwest League championship.

He started the final game of the championship series in a three-game sweep of the Lansing Lugnuts, pitching six innings, allowing four hits and two walks (BB) while striking out nine in a 6–3 victory.

This was Rosenthal's first full season pitching professional baseball.

During the regular season, he started 22 games, pitched 120 1⁄3 innings with 133 S0 for a 4.11 ERA, 9.9 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched (K/9), a 1.247 walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP), and 52% ground ball rate.

The Cardinals called up Rosenthal from Springfield for the first time on July 16, 2012, and he made his debut two days later as the 2,000th player in franchise history dating back to 1882.

He was an integral part of the Cardinals' World Series run in 2013, making 74 appearances, while striking out 108 batters, in 75 1⁄3 innings pitched, allowing a 2.63 earned run average (ERA), and converting three saves.

Moreover, Rosenthal recorded 20 1⁄3 scoreless innings to begin his postseason career.

An MLB All-Star in 2015, Rosenthal set the Cardinals' franchise record for saves that season with 48.

In 2015, he became the third-youngest pitcher in major league history to record back-to-back 40 save seasons.

Due to a tear in the ulnar collateral ligament of the right elbow and subsequent reconstructive surgery in August 2017, Rosenthal missed the 2018 season, but returned to play in 2019.

Trevor Rosenthal, the son of Judy (Henke) and Russ Rosenthal, was born and raised in the Kansas City, Missouri, area.

He graduated from Lee's Summit West High School in Lee's Summit, Missouri.

After graduating from Lee's Summit West, Rosenthal attended Cowley County Community College in Arkansas City, Kansas, to play collegiate baseball for the Cowley County baseball team.