Going into 2011 the St. Louis Cardinals had an impressively deep bullpen in Memphis—deep enough that some wondered whether the acquisition of Miguel Batista was even necessary to fill out the one in St. Louis. Here in June people are still wondering about that acquisition, but all that depth in Memphis has been used up. Fernando Salas has emerged as the Cardinals' closer-by-necessity after being one of the last cuts in March; Eduardo Sanchez got off to a sensational start but is currently dealing with shoulder stiffness; and Adam Reifer, the other relief prospect in Memphis, is dealing with a major knee injury that cost him his season right before the Cardinals needed him.
↵With the reinforcements gone, the retreads are all that's left. Bryan Augenstein, whose injury led to Sanchez's emergence, was unimpressive in his first bullpen stint but it now rehabbing in Memphis, and Jess Todd, the second half of the Mark DeRosa trade, returned to the Cardinals by way of a waiver claim and has looked unexceptional ever since.
↵Maikel Cleto's fastball is startlingly fast, but the Cardinals need to find someone out there with a little command—and Jess Todd could be all that's left. Removed from the 40-man roster shortly after the Cardinals claimed him, they'd need to find a spot he could go in, but the current bullpen wouldn't be a terrible place to look.
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