St. Louis Cardinals: Carlos Martinez likely out for year

The St. Louis Cardinals just can’t catch a break. Carlos Martinez is the latest starter out with injury and this time, he is done for the year.

The writing was on the wall that Carlos Martinez had suffered a serious injury when he could not throw without experiencing pain. Then he was transferred to the 60-day injured list, with St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Shildt saying the injury was a ligament tear that required further evaluation.

Shildt also said, via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, that Martinez might be out for the year — which would be a huge blow for the Cardinals considering the state of their rotation before the injury.

It would be a disappointing end to what has been a frustrating season for Martinez. He has made 16 starts, battling through various injuries this season, and posted an uninspiring 6.23 ERA while striking out only 15.7 percent of batters while walking 9.9 percent of batters.

While losing Martinez is not the pitcher he once was, he provided something that the Cardinals do not have much of: a starter capable of eating innings. Without Martinez, the only true starters on the roster are Adam Wainwright and Kwang Hyun Kim, who have both pitched admirably throughout the season, with Kim hitting his stride in recent games.

It’s now up to the Cardinals to find yet another replacement in the rotation, with John Gant being a candidate only weeks after being summoned to the bullpen. But the most likely scenario remains that they will acquire a starter or two before the trade deadline, though the asking prices for difference-making starters – Minnesota Twins’ Jose Berrios and Texas Rangers’ Kyle Gibson – being very high at this point.

There is no official word on Martinez, but the signs sure point to him being lost for the season, marking yet another blow for an injury ridden roster.