Steve Cishek is best known for his five seasons in Baseball, which was spent with the Florida/Miami Marlins where he served as their closer in 2013 and 2014. Cishek led the National League in Games Finished (62) but was inconsistent and traded to St. Louis in 2015.
Cishek signed with the Seattle Mariners in 2016 and saved 25 Games for the team, but that was the last season he was used in that role. He was still solid later on in stints with Tampa (2017) and the Chicago Cubs (2018-19), but he petered out over the next three seasons, one each with Chicago (AL), Los Angeles (AL), and Washington, respectively.
Cishek is unlikely to make the Hall of Fame ballot, but he did leave baseball with 737 Makor League Games on the mound.
Stephen Strasburg had an intriguing career that set the precedent for managing pitcher's arms in the modern era. He was the First Overall Pick in 2009 and debuted for the Nationals the following year, in what was arguably the most highly anticipated pitching debut by an American player. However, he only appeared in 17 games in his first two years as he underwent Tommy John Surgery. Despite this, he was effective in his limited work and showed what he was capable of.
In 2012, the Nationals made it known that they would be monitoring Strasburg’s innings. He went on to be an All-Star that year, going 15-6 with 197 strikeouts. It could have been a lot more, but Washington shut him down on September 12, including the playoffs, where the Nats were eliminated in the Divisional Round. Strasburg had a decent 2013 (8-9, 191 SO, 3.00 ERA) and 2014, he was ninth in Cy Young voting and led the National League in strikeouts with 242.
Strasburg continued to show why he was worth the investment, and he was an All-Star again in 2016 and 2017, with the latter being the better season. He led the NL in FIP (2.72), had a career-low ERA (2.52), and was third in Cy Young voting. After another solid season, Strasburg went 18-6, fanned 251 batters, and was fifth in Cy Young balloting. Even better, Strasburg led the Nationals to their first World Series win, going 5-0 in the playoffs, including two wins in the Fall Classic, where he was named the World Series MVP. He signed what was then the largest contract for a pitcher (7 years/$245 million), but disaster was about to strike.
Strasburg succumbed to a nerve issue in his pitching hand that held him to only three batters in 2020. Diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome, Strasburg managed only 21.2 innings in 2021. It was even worse for Strasburg, who had to be shut down after one game, and he never pitched again.
As promising as his talents were, Strasburg was a hell of a talent when he was healthy, but sometimes it is not meant to be.
Sergio Romo played the first half of his career with the San Francisco Giants (2008-16), where the Relief Pitcher was an All-Star in 2013 and won three World Series Rings (2010, 2012 & 2014). Romo had 84 Saves for the Giants and 137 Overall in a career that also saw him throw for Los Angeles (NL), Tampa Bay, Miami, Minnesota, Oakland, Seattle and Toronto.
Sean Doolittle spent his entire 11-season career as a relief pitcher. He started with the Oakland Athletics in 2012 and became an All-Star in 2014 when he saved 22 games. Doolittle was traded to the Washington Nationals in 2017 and continued to save at least 20 games annually until 2019.
In 2018, Doolittle made his second All-Star appearance and in the following year, he led the National League in games finished (55) and helped the Washington Nationals win their first World Series. He finished his career with stints in Cincinnati, Seattle, and a second run with Washington, saving a total of 112 games throughout his career.