Oliver Marmol's Cardinals need a little more from Ryan Helsley, along with one big save from the front office.
It’s not one or the other.
It’s both.
The first two games of this measuring-stick series against the Dodgers said so.
A thrilling 7-6 Cardinals win Tuesday night that required a seven-pitcher collage and a crushing 7-6 Cardinals loss Wednesday night that came undone due to an undermanned and overmatched bullpen underlined the same two conclusions.
This club needs another quality starter added before the trade deadline passes in order to beef up the rotation and help the bullpen by trickle-down effect. Steven Matz returning from injury is not enough, even if he pitches well. An additional impressive starter is a must if the Cardinals are going to fulfill their promise to fans. You remember the promise, right? It was about the sendoff season of Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina and potentially Adam Wainwright being about contention, not just warm and fuzzies.
Go get that starter, and the bullpen would be strengthened by the former starter who shifts into the pen. The taxation of the bullpen that simply cannot continue into the second half would decrease dramatically. The trend of one game bleeding into bad news for the next could finally end.
That last one happened again Wednesday.
Because of how the Cardinals attacked the Dodgers in the first game of this series, they were desperately needing Adam Wainwright to go deep in the second. He battled, but only made it 5.1 innings before his pitch count was in the triple-digits, with trouble on the bases.
Even with a six-run lead, you knew the Cardinals were veering toward danger. The Dodgers know comebacks better than boomerangs. Marmol, knowing what the rest of us did not at the time, had additional reasons to sweat.
His daily check-in on the status of pitchers before the game had determined the following players were off-limits Wednesday due to recent use: Helsley, Jordan Hicks and Johan Oviedo. Packy Naughton was available, but only for one inning. Junior Fernandez was cleared to get the Cardinals out of an inning, but nothing more.
As soon as the reliable Naughton rescued Wainwright, the spiral started.
Drew VerHagen, Genesis Cabrera, Fernandez and Giovanny Gallegos combined to allow seven runs.
Ball game.
Rip away on Marmol if you like. But he is not the one who shook up a bullpen that had been pitching better. He didn't send out Zack Thompson to make room for activated under-achievers like VerHagen and TJ McFarland. And he does not have the luxury of having guys in his bullpen he can't ask to pitch.
Rip away on Gallegos, who never shies away from any assignment, if you prefer. But did you want McFarland, the only other available reliever unused at that point, pitching the ninth?
Left unsaid Wednesday was that it sure would have been nice to have Helsley for that spot.
His team needs a little more from him.
Not more velocity; he’s got plenty of that.
Not more strikeouts; he’s mowing down opponents to the tune of an amazing 41 percent strikeout rate.
Not more execution; the deserving first-time All-Star has allowed only 13 hits and three runs while totaling 56 strikeouts.
What the Cardinals could use from Helsley is either more appearances, or some more work in those appearances.
Especially during this season’s second half, when the benefits of playing the first half smart and safe have added valuable distance from his previous knee and shoulder injuries.
After the loss, I asked Marmol to explain how it is decided when a pitcher is off limits, and if that conversation can be revisited during a game. Such as, when the Cardinals happen to be clinging to a one-run lead against the mighty Dodgers with a thinned pen, and the spot in the ninth is screaming for an appearance from an All-Star.
“Do you revisit it during a game? No,” Marmol said. “You have the conversation after they go play catch (pregame). They have a pretty good idea of their bodies. That’s why they’re here. They let you know what they are capable of doing that day . . . Guys recover differently. Some guys are more resilient. Some guys don’t get as sore after throwing, just the way their body moves. It’s a combination of a lot of different things.”
Marmol pointed out, as did Helsley, that Helsley pitching Wednesday night would have made it five appearances for the All-Star in seven days, and one of those appearances was a 2.1 inning outing in Atlanta last Thursday.
Another way to look at it, though, notes that since Helsley’s extended stint in that Cardinals win on July 7, he has pitched three times. Each was a one-inning appearance. None of them required more than 14 pitches. When Helsley didn’t pitch the ninth inning on Tuesday, it was safe to assume he would be available Wednesday. That assumption proved wrong.
Here's something we have learned about Marmol. He's pretty candid about how games play out. If you want to know who was available and who was not, just ask. It clears up a lot of the potential questions about his moves.
Here's something else we have learned about Marmol. He isn't going to shove pitchers into the woodchipper arm first. Other managers would. Some previous ones here have. He has a different approach. He listens to his players and trusts them. That's smart and it should be appreciated. It also means his players need to know their limits, and when to push those limits. Mid-July maybe isn't the time to try, even against the Dodgers. Down the stretch in a race for the division should be.
Then again, if this front office does not get serious about adding a starter capable of winning a playoff game, it probably doesn't matter.
