By Chris Brown – STL Baseball Today
One of the best pitchers in baseball since his long-awaited return from the DL, Jaime Garcia is injured again. Luckily, his ailment this time appears to be minor.
Scheduled to start the Cardinals’ series opener against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday, Garcia was scratched in favor of Lance Lynn after he was unable to throw his scheduled bullpen session Saturday due to groin discomfort. Garcia exited his last start on Wednesday in the eighth inning after limping as he rounded third base. He later revealed he had been pitching with a cramp throughout the game but had not informed the training staff.
Manager Mike Matheny told reporters, including Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, that he didn’t believe the injury was serious. “It hasn’t appeared to be. Everything I was hearing yesterday was pretty positive,” Matheny said. Garcia himself declined comment to reporters on Sunday.
The 28-year-old Garcia will once again attempt to throw a bullpen on Monday at Busch Stadium, Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch reports. If that side session goes well, Garcia will be cleared to start some time this week. In all likelihood that start would be on Thursday, although Mike Matheny did say there was an “outside possibility” that Garcia could get the nod on Wednesday, just one day after his initial scheduled start.
Nonetheless, the club is prepping John Lackey to start on Wednesday, following Lynn on Tuesday. Both would be pitching on normal rest due to the team’s off day on Monday.
Also of note, the Cardinals cut short left-hander Tim Cooney’s start Sunday at AAA Memphis after just 26 pitches over two innings in order to have him available this week if Garcia is not. The Cardinals could shift Michael Wacha and Carlos Martinez forward one day while still allowing them to pitch on normal rest, but the team could elect to recall Cooney for the start on Thursday to give the young pitchers the extra day that was originally scheduled.
As for Garcia, the lefty has been dominant in his return from a shoulder injury, posting a 1.69 ERA over seven starts.
Featured image used under Creative Commons from Barbara Moore. No changes made. Image License.
