April 26, 2015 by

Wainwright placed on 15-day DL following Achilles injury – “highly unlikely” to pitch again this season

The Cardinals are now preparing for a major blow to their starting staff, as ace right-hander Adam Wainwright was officially placed on the 15-day disabled list Sunday and is “highly unlikely” to pitch again this season with a left Achilles injury, general manager John Mozeliak told KMOX 1120AM’s John Kelly one day after Wainwright came up limping in an at-bat during the fourth inning of the Cardinals 5-3 win over the Brewers.

Here’s the link to Mozeliak’s full interview on KMOX: John Mozeliak, Cardinals GM.

Keep track of the latest updates here and below on this page:


UPDATE 4/26 10:00 am: 

The Cardinals have officially placed team ace Adam Wainwright on the 15-day disabled list due to left low ankle & Achilles injury. With Yadier Molina slightly banged up, the team has recalled catcher Cody Stanley from AAA Memphis. More to come.

UPDATE 4/26 9:00 am: Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported Sunday morning that despite not yet undergoing an MRI, the expectation is that Wainwright will be out for the season with an Achilles injury.

With Jaime Garcia (shoulder) still rehabbing, 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 a short term fill-in would certainly be needed. Brian Stull of St. Louis Baseball Weekly took a look at the potential options:

Left-hander Tim Cooney has the most impressive numbers of the remaining pitchers on the Memphis (AAA) roster: 2-1 with 17.1 innings pitched, 15 hits, 7 earned runs, 5 BBs, and 14 strikeouts.

Tyler Lyons, who has big league experience, is currently 1-1 and has allowed 22 hits and 7 earned runs in 13.2 innings pitched while walking 5 batters and striking out 20.

The Cardinals also have the roster option of moving Carlos Villanueva from the bullpen to the rotation and then promoting a pitcher to fill a relief role.

Wainwright has led a Cardinals rotation with easily the best ERA in the majors (1.99 as of Sunday morning, with the Mets the next closest with 2.96) with a 2-1 record and a 1.44 ERA and 18:3 K:BB ratio over 25 innings this season.

Read more from the original story below…

Harris’ historic debut in 5-3 win overshadowed by potentially season-ending Wainwright injury

The historic pitching debut of 29-year-old lieutenant Mitch Harris in the Cardinals 5-3 win over the Brewers on Saturday night was undoubtedly overshadowed by a potentially devastating injury to team ace Adam Wainwright that left a somber mood in the clubhouse and all of Cardinal Nation crossing their fingers this weekend.

Despite giving up three Milwaukee hits in his first four innings of work, Wainwright faced the minimum number of batters due to the help of three double plays turned behind him and struck out four before a potentially serious injury while batting cut his night outing short.

Leading off the top of the fifth inning, Wainwright popped up a 1-2 fastball to first baseman Adam Lind and hesitated leaving the batters box before stumbling, limping, and finally stopping part way up the first base line. The team training staff and manager Mike Matheny rushed on to the field and had to help Wainwright, who limped down the dugout steps, off the field.

“I was grabbing him. He was fighting me the whole time,” Matheny told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I told him I just about grabbed him and fireman-carried him off the field.”

Upon viewing the replay, Fox Sports Midwest broadcasters Dan McLaughlin and Rick Horton speculated that it could be sort of Achilles injury, and comparisons to Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard’s tear of his Achilles tendon back in the 2011 NLDS against the redbirds came pouring in. A few innings later came word from the team that Wainwright had simply suffered a “left ankle injury” and that he would be re-evaluated after the team returns to St. Louis on Monday.

That seemed like good news considering how the injury looked at the time, but Wainwright’s description of the injury and the mood in the Cardinals clubhouse after the game now makes it seem just as serious as many originally feared it could be.

Wainwright, wearing a walking boot after the game, confirmed to reporters that the injury is in the back of his ankle, “a bad spot” as Mike Matheny put it. Based on that alone and reports from numerous sources, it appears nearly a certainty that Wainwright will head to the disabled list, but it won’t be until an MRI is taken Monday that he’ll know precisely what he’s dealing with.

Although players and coaches wouldn’t speculate on the injury after the game, the media certainly would:

And as Cardinals beat writer Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com wrote, “the muted reaction to a 5-3 win over the Brewers on Saturday spoke louder than any preliminary diagnosis.”

Here’s some of what Wainwright had to say to reporters after the game:

  • “It was crazy. I wasn’t even going that hard. I just popped it up…I saw that it was in play so I started to run and my foot just shut down on me. It’s in the back of my ankle. – St. Louis Post-Dispatch
  • “I thought I got hit by something. If you look at the replay, I kind of get out of the box and I look back thinking, ‘Gosh, the catcher’s mask must have hit me. The bat must have hit me or something.'” – Cardinals.com
  • “There’s not much swelling but right now it’s pretty wrapped up. It’s a very strange sensation. It’s just kind of numb right now…It’s unfortunate, but we won the game. The bullpen did a great job.” – St. Louis Post-Dispatch

As for the potential of a season-ending injury:

  • “What I’ve been told is don’t even think anything until the doctor tells you what it is. I’ve not gotten my hopes up or down. I’m just going to try to be a positive influence here today and tomorrow and see what happens. … Everything right now is just speculation.” – Cardinals.com
  • “That would be real tough,” Wainwright said, “especially the way I was starting to feel. It was by far the best I’ve felt this year. That’s the hardest part, knowing that I was making such good adjustments and now I’ve got a setback.” – St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Finally, here’s what manager Mike Matheny had to say after the game (from Jenifer Langosch/Cardinals.com):

“It’s pretty somber right now just because I don’t know of a more respected guy on the team, but also this stuff happens,” Matheny said. “You lose guys. We went into this [season] realizing that that’s a high probability that we’d have somebody go down at some point and have to have somebody step up. That’s part of why we need some depth in the organization and have other guys ready to go. But right now, we’re not going to get too far ahead until we see things for sure on Monday. But [it’s] definitely not a good thing.

 

More to come.

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