Cardinals GM John Mozeliak made the expected news official on Monday afternoon, announcing that ace right-hander Adam Wainwright has torn his left Achilles tendon and will be out for the rest of the 2015 season. The official diagnosis was made after an MRI was performed in St. Louis Monday morning.
Wainwright will have surgery on Thursday and recovery is expected to be 9-12 months. “As far as this year goes, he’s done,” Mozeliak told the Post-Dispatch. “Obviously, he had his MRI this morning and it was determined that he did tear his Achilles. Unfortunate news, but not unexpected after what we saw on Saturday night. He will ultimately have surgery–likely Thursday of this week. We’ll go from there (via Brian Stull/STL Baseball Weekly).” The GM added that the team is optimistic that Wainwright will be ready for the start of Spring Training in 2016, although that would be in the short end of that time table.
The 33-year-old three-time All Star was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Sunday and was replaced on the roster by catcher Cody Stanley, who picked up his first MLB hit in his first big-league at-bat later that night. Stanley was recalled to provide temporary catching insurance while Yadier Molina remained sidelined with knee tightness, although Molina returned to the starting lineup on Monday.
Wainwright’s turn in the rotation is set to come up on Thursday against the Phillies, and the club has yet to announce who will make that start. With Jaime Garcia (shoulder) still rehabbing and likely at least a month away from game action, lefty Marco Gonzales, who was part of the fifth starter battle in the spring, would seem to be the most logical candidate to replace Wainwright in the rotation, although he’s currently on the seven-day minor league DL with left shoulder/pectoral soreness. Both of them could serve as long-term options to replace Wainwright, although at least a spot start would be needed until Gonzales is ready.
Jenifer Langosch of Cardinals.com reports on who the top candidates to start Thursday are:
That leaves Tim Cooney and Tyler Lyons, both currently pitching in the Triple-A rotation, as immediate options. Mozeliak also listed Zach Petrick as a possibility, but Petrick started for Memphis on Sunday. Carlos Villanueva could make a spot start, but it did not appear as if the Cardinals were leaning in that direction.
It’s also worth noting that left-hander Tim Cooney was scratched from his start scheduled start for the AAA Memphis Redbirds Monday night in favor of Nick Greenwood, although Mozeliak cautioned to reporters not to assume that means Cooney is headed north to join the big-league club.
More to come.
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