St. Louis Cardinals dealing with another injury in the rotation

The St. Louis Cardinals’ rotation was already in flux with Miles Mikolas’ injury. Now, it just found a way to get worse with Kim nursing a back injury.

At some point, the news surrounding the St. Louis Cardinals rotation will become positive and optimistic.

That day just won’t be today.

Only days after Miles Mikolas was ruled out from Opening Day, starting pitcher Kwang-hyun Kim was scratched from Saturday’s spring training start due to a back injury, manager Mike Shildt told reporters, including Rick Hummel. It interrupts his throwing program and sets him off schedule.

How serious the injury is remains unclear, though the initial signs are that it will not be a long-term absence. But Kim missing time this late into spring training at least raises the question of whether he will be available for Opening Day, meaning that the Cardinals may have only two sure things in the rotation with Jack Flaherty and Adam Wainwright with question marks Carlos Martinez and John Gant likely being another part of the rotation.

The question has already been raised of whether the Cardinals will explore outside additions. We wrote about Jordan Lyles today as a trade candidate. There are free agents such as Rick Porcello and Homer Bailey available, though Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch indicates that a Porcello addition is not happening.

Which means that the Cardinals are likely to roll into Opening Day with the starters currently on roster, which is rather concerning since we only know what 40 percent of that rotation looks like. Kim and Mikolas will likely be on it sooner than later, of course, but if the alarms weren’t already sounding on the rotation, it is now with Kim dealing with a back injury.