St. Louis Cardinals: Adam Wainwright on DL to start season

St. Louis Cardinals’ veteran starter, Adam Wainwright, will begin the 2018 campaign on the disabled list. Jack Flaherty is now the fifth starter.

Earlier today, it was announced that Adam Wainwright strained his hamstring and will begin the season on the disabled list. This comes a day after learning the apparent St. Louis Cardinals‘ closer, Luke Gregerson, would begin the season on the DL with the same injury.

Wainwright’s injury is believed to be less severe and the team is hoping he will only miss one or two starts. He was penciled in as the team’s number two starter to begin the season – maybe not because he is the St. Louis Cardinals’ second best starter, but because that would have allowed him to start the home opener, an honor Mike Matheny believed Waino had earned.

However, Wainwright has pitched excellently this spring and might deserve the number two designation. In three starts and 10.2 innings pitched, he has an ERA of 0.84 with 10 strikeouts.

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After his worst season as a Cardinal, posting a 5.11 ERA across 123.1 innings in 2017, the strong spring is promising for a bounce back season.

After Carlos Martinez, it’s Michael Wacha, Luke Weaver, Miles Mikolas, and Jack Flaherty, in that order. Flaherty, who was optioned to Memphis last week, now gets his opportunity sooner than expected.

Through four starts and 13 innings this spring, Flaherty has an ERA of 4.85, largely because of one bad outing. In his second spring start, he gave up four earned runs in just two innings.

But, in his last two starts, he has pitched nine innings, given up three runs, and struck out 15 batters. The home run ball has been a bit of a problem, serving up three in his 13 innings. Hitters are only hitting .191 against him though.

Spring training stats, good or bad, don’t always translate to a good or bad regular season. But, it’s always good to leave Florida feeling confident, and the signs of a dominant, if not quality, pitcher are there for Flaherty.

Again, the St. Louis Cardinals do not believe Adam Wainwright’s hamstring injury to be a serious one. If his spring stats are believed to be a return to the Waino of old, then his absence might hurt our staff.

Next: 10 bold predictions for 2018

I believe Jack Flaherty will do a fine, if not great, job of filling in. What do you guys think? Is the loss of Wainwright a big blow or do you think we will be fine during his absence? Thanks for reading.