Cardinals News: Top 3 in-house Adam Wainwright injury replacements

These three internal arms can replace Adam Wainwright in the Cardinals rotation after his groin injury

To the dismay of St. Louis Cardinals fans everywhere, longtime ace Adam Wainwright is going to be starting the 2023 regular season on the injured list. John Denton of MLB.com had it first on Twitter.

Wainwright, 41, was expected to be the Cardinals' Opening Day starter as he enters his 18th season in the big leagues. Instead, Miles Mikolas seems like the top candidate to start the season opener against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Fortunately for the club, there are plenty of in-house options already on hand that could slot into Wainwright's spot in the rotation.

Let's break down the Cardinals' top 3 in-house injury replacements for Adam Wainwright.

No. 3: LHP Matthew Liberatore

Entering the season, Liberatore is the No. 6 prospect in the Cardinals system according to MLB.com's latest rankings.

The 23-year-old briefly got into some big league games last season, making nine total appearances (seven starts) and going 2-2 with a 5.97 ERA, 5.02 FIP, and 65 ERA+. While these numbers don't elicit much excitement, he's been a steady contributor in the minor leagues and has the talent to crack the big league roster.

Liberatore is a strikeout artist who needs to work on keeping the ball in the ballpark more frequently. Last season, he surrendered five home runs in just 34 innings in the majors and gave up 16 longballs in the minor leagues. His 3.2 BB/9 rate in Triple-A is also worth keeping an eye on, but he is still extremely young and very much still developing.

Frankly, the crafty southpaw seems like a longshot to replace Wainwright in the rotation, but the odds are not zero. He has impressed so far in Spring Training, to the point where him making the Opening Day roster would not be much of a shock at all.

No. 2: RHP Dakota Hudson

Hudson, 28, has had an up-and-down big-league career to this point. The five-year veteran has shown promise, primarily in 2019 when he went 16-7 in 32 starts, good enough for a fifth-place finish in the NL Rookie of the Year standings.

He made a combined 10 appearances in 2020 and 2021 thanks in part to Tommy John surgery, and while he looked good during this time, this is when the current decline he's in right now began.

Hudson made 27 appearances last year for the Cardinals and didn't produce the same as he had pre-surgery. In 139+ innings, he managed just a 4.45 ERA, 4.34 FIP, and 86 ERA+, meaning he was 14 percent below league average on the season.

If the season started today, FanGraphs' Roster Resource has Hudson beginning the year in Triple-A with the Memphis Redbirds, but now that Wainwright is down with an injury, there could be a spot opening for Hudson in the big leagues. He has extensive experience as a starting pitcher and is only a few years removed from being one of the more promising arms in the system.

The biggest thing keeping Hudson from a guaranteed spot is the amount of competition he faces. The Cardinals have done an exceptional job at either drafting or trading for young pitching talent. While Hudson has at times found his name amongst this group, he will need a strong finish in Spring Training to warrant his inclusion in the major league rotation.