Adam Wainwright officially out for the season with torn Achilles
The St. Louis Cardinals’ worst fears were confirmed Monday after it was announced ace Adam Wainwright would miss the rest of the season due to a torn Achilles in his left foot. The 34-year-old injured himself attempting to run out a pop-up during Saturday’s game.
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The news does not come as a huge surprise. Many believed Wainwright tore his Achilles even before Monday’s MRI. General manager John Mozeliak all but confirmed that prior to Sunday’s game.
Wainwright will have surgery this week, and is expected to miss between 9-12 months.
The injury puts the Cardinals in a bit of a bind. Though Wainwright came into the year with some questions, he looked like himself through four starts. He didn’t appear to be impacted by offseason elbow surgery, posting a 1.44 ERA over 25 innings before the injury.
With Wainwright out, there’s some uncertainty in the team’s rotation. Michael Wacha has pitched well thus far, but he missed time due to an arm issue last season. While he appears to be healthy now, it’s unclear whether those issues will re-emerge, or if his innings will be limited down the stretch. The latter is also a concern with Carlos Martinez, who has also performed well to start the season.
Those two, combined with veterans Lance Lynn and John Lackey, will make up four-fifths of the club’s rotation the rest of the season. St. Louis has some depth in their system in Marco Gonzales and Jaime Garcia, but both players are currently injured. Neither has the same upside as Wainwright, but both can be adequate No. 5 starters once they return.
Replacing Wainwright’s production will be impossible. Few players have been as durable or consistent as him over such a long period of time. Yes, his 2011 was wiped out due to Tommy John surgery, but we’re talking about a pitcher who has thrown over 225 innings in four of his last five healthy seasons. You don’t find those types of players in Triple-A.
The Cardinals could explore a trade, but there’s no need to overreact at the moment. Wacha and Martinez were big question marks coming into the year, but both look great thus far. If they can continue to perform well, the team will still have an above-average rotation.
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The question will be whether those players can sustain their success over the course of the season. If Wacha and Martinez lose steam in June, or if the Cardinals are planning to limit their innings, a trade could eventually make sense.
For now, the team can promote someone from the minors until Gonzales or Garcia is healthy. While the Cardinals aren’t going to fully replace Wainwright’s production, the team has enough depth to survive this type of injury.
Losing Wainwright is a big blow, but there’s no need to overreact just yet.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
