St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright out for season?

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St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright could be out for the season after suffering a potential season-ending injury against the Milwaukee Brewers.

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What we know about Wainwright’s injury is that he was dismissive of Cardinals manager Mike Matheny‘s help when it came to the Georgia native walking off the field last night.

“I was grabbing him, according to Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “He was fighting me the whole time. I told him I just about grabbed him and fireman-carried him off the field.”

When Wainwright left the stadium, he was in a walking boot so it is definitely fair to say that we might not see him pitch for a while. After the Cardinals return to St. Louis tonight, he will be re-evaluated on Monday.

Much of the speculation right now is that Wainwright suffered an injury in his Achilles tendon.

Since 2013, Wainwright is first in wins and innings pitched and fourth in ERA in Major League Baseball. In four starts this season, the pitcher is 2-1 with a 1.44 ERA. He has walked three batters while striking out eighteen.

With Lance Lynn, Michael Wacha, John Lackey, and Carlos Martinez, the Cardinals are sure to be fine with their other four rotation spots. However, losing their staff ace for an indefinite period of time is going to hurt no matter who gets called up from Memphis. The Cardinals rotation started the season with a 1.97 ERA–the best in Major League Baseball and the best for the Cardinals since starting out with a 1.78 ERA in the first sixteen games of the 1943 season.

Looking at alternatives should Wainwright be out for an extended period of time, the Cardinals can survive this as they have the pitching depth. Right now, two of their options are currently out due to their own injuries: Marco Gonzales and Jaime Garcia. Gonzales is dealing with shoulder tightness. That’s not to say that there are no options in Memphis because there certainly are pitchers that can make a spot start. I would expect either Tim Cooney or Tyler Lyons to be called up when the Cardinals place Wainwright on the DL.