The St. Louis Cardinals traded away Ryan Heasley to the New York Mets at the 2025 trade deadline, paving the way for other relievers to take over as the Cardinals' closer.
After the first few weeks since Helsley has been dealt, one young reliever is taking advantage of his opportunity and thriving in the closer role. Miranda Remaklus of Redbird Rants pointed out how JoJo Romero is taking advantage of his new role.
"After the team traded off relievers Ryan Helsley, Steven Matz, and Phil Maton," Remaklus writes, "Romero became the next man up to take on the higher-leverage relief situations for the Cardinals."
In the six outings since the trade deadline, Helsley has been dealt, and Romero has three saves across 6.2 innings pitched while allowing nine hits, three earned runs, four walks, and striking out six batters. His ERA is at 4.05, but aside from a rough outing against the Colorado Rockies, he's been great in the new role.
"Since the deadline, Romero has proven to be a trustworthy arm out of the bullpen as long as he's in an ideal situation." Remaklus writes.
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While he's not going to be as dominant as Helelsey was during his prime, Romero has showcased enough flash to be an intriguing player for St. Louis down the stretch.
This season, Romero has a 2.36 ERA in 47 appearances across 42 innings pitched with 41 strikeouts, 19 walks, and two home runs allowed. While his 1.310 WHIP is a little high, he's still been a strong pitcher for the Cardinals this season.
Acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies in 2022 for Edmundo Sosa, Romero has been a strong contributor across the 3.5 years he's spent in St. Louis. But this season has been his best by far, and his new role has, for the most part, gone well.
Before his rough outing against the Rockies, he had a 1.59 ERA in five outings in August with three saves. If he can rebound from his Rockies outing and pitch like he was in the closer role, St. Louis could have found their closer for the next two seasons.
The 28-year-old is becoming a big part of the Cardinals' future, as the left-handed reliever has shown a lot of promise in the closer role after Helsley was dealt to the Mets.
Helsley has an 8.44 ERA in seven outings with the Mets. Combined with Romero's emergence as a strong closer, the Helsley trade has looked like a great one so far for St. Louis.
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