Trevor Rosenthal ‘day to day’ with right groin strain

Thankfully for the St. Louis Cardinals, the injury to closer Trevor Rosenthal took place in February and should be nothing more than a minor leg injury.

After being forced to cut a bullpen session short with the leg injury, Rosenthal reportedly has a right groin strain. From Jenifer Langosch from MLB.com:

"He had been scheduled to throw 25 pitches and did come close to that number before leaving the field with Hauck. Rosenthal spent time in the trainer’s room to ice an area of his leg that he described as “the meat of the muscle” and to undergo treatment.‘Our approach right now is going to be day to day,’ general manager John Mozeliak said. ‘I do feel like this is caught early enough that it probably avoided anything more serious.'”"

Rosenthal also said that if this tweak had occurred during the regular season he probably would have been able to pitch through it. With plenty of time between now and Opening Day for him to get right, the Cardinals will hope this passes without issue.

Rosenthal’s success as closer will be predicated on his ability to run his fastball up around 100 MPH; his average fastball velocity in 2013 was 96.4, which was actually down from the 97.4 he averaged in 2012. Much of that velocity comes from a pitcher’s lower half, so while it’s better that this is not an arm injury, it is still pivotal for the team to take it slow and let Rosenthal get right.