The Cardinals could be without their set up man until after the All-Star break, as right-hander Jordan Walden is expected to be out 6-10 weeks due to a muscle strain in his right shoulder, general manager John Mozeliak told reporters Wednesday. The good news is that Walden, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday with biceps inflammation, is not expected to require surgery after his MRI was reviewed by another doctor, who found the strain (which by definition implies a tear) and recommended rest only.

Acquired from the Braves along with Jason Heyward in the trade that sent Shelby Miller to Atlanta, Walden, 27, had allowed just one run in 10 1/3 innings of work (0.87 ERA) this season while pitching primarily in the eighth inning as the setup man for closer Trevor Rosenthal.

Although Mozeliak wouldn’t make any guarantees, he did suggest to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the eighth inning duties will likely go to Seth Maness, who was easily been one of the team’s top relievers so far this year. Over 11 2/3 innings (as of Wednesday), Maness has posted a 3.09 ERA with 7 strikeouts while continuing to induce many key double plays for the redbirds.

Via Brian Stull of St. Louis Baseball Weekly:

“I find Maness is useful however you use him,” stated Mozeliak. “He’s probably the one guy, I think, who’s the most versatile pitcher on our team. I think he literally could start. I think he could do just fine finishing a game. So, he really does give us flexibility. Somebone else is going to have to step in and hopefully, it’s somebody like a Belisle.”

Read more: St. Louis Baseball Today, theScore