Wainwright Injures Elbow

[Giantmetfan07]

Injured it on Monday apparently. Back in St. Louis to have it examined today. All indications right now are that he's most likely headed for Tommy John Surgery....

St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright injured his elbow Monday and is returning to St. Louis to have it examined by team doctors.

General manager John Mozeliak said Wednesday that "things do not look encouraging" for the 2010 Cy Young Award runner-up, based on the initial evaluation by the training staff, and believed it is a "significant injury."

He said the right-hander injured his elbow in Monday's bullpen session.

"There's a problem with the ligament," Mozeliak said, according to the New York Daily News. "But it doesn't look good."

An update is expected Wednesday afternoon.

Wainwright went 20-11 with a 2.42 ERA in 2010, finishing second in the Cy Young Award balloting to Philadelphia's Roy Halladay.

An MRI exam in late September showed a strained muscle in his forearm and inflammation near the elbow. At the time, the Cardinals believed Wainwright would be fine with rest, and the pitcher said the elbow ligament was not an issue.

Wainwright said he had slept on the arm earlier in September, woke up, found the arm numb and flung it aside instead of waiting for feeling to return.

 

[snipezo]

Damn that's not good news for the Cards. Reds got the NL Central imo

 

[Yankees2772]

Tommy John surgery is better than steroids, and legal. It'll end up being the best thing to happen to Wainwright. Hope all goes well, he's a great pitcher.

 

[The Guid]

Definitely gotta agree with Snipe that this makes the Central a lot more winnable for the Reds or even the Cubs. Hope Wainwright can bounce back; I'm sure he will.

 

[Elite]

You dudes are forgetting the Brewers play in the NL Central, they're taking this division if Waino goes down IMO

 

[NV]

Seeming like Tommy John. Big blow to the Cardinals to lose him for the whole year.

 

[The Guid]

I did totally forget about the Brewers. Gonna be an interesting, and fun to watch, race for the Central

 

[Phil The Thrill]

With or without Wainright, I still have the Brewers taking the division. Good offseason acquisitions in Marcum and Greinke, and I feel like Braun is going to have a great year.

 

[Rios15]

The Central will always be a competitive division in terms of how close the teams always are. Even the wild card for the NL always seems close. I think the Reds can win the division if Votto has another great year. And yeah, it's tough losing a big pitcher like Wainwright who basically will put you in a situation to win every night. Someone is going to need to step up for this injury if Wainwright is indeed out.

 

[cruzg24]

Cardinals are starting to look like a mess before they even hit the field, this is not good at all. I hope Adam comes back alright, hes a great pitcher and the Cardinals desperately need him back.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

wouldn't be surprised if the Cardinals conceded before the All-Star Break and traded Chris Carpenter. Not sure of the exact number, but we know he's old and I believe he has like $15M or something on his contract for next season. When you've got a team like the Yankees who will almost certainly be out there looking for a good pitcher, most likely even a veteran, they'll appear EXTREMELY valuable especially with their minor league depth at Catcher.

Also, I'm sure this will prompt the Cardinals to lighten their payroll for next season so they can be more "flexible" to offering Pujols the money he wants. It makes a ton of sense, just depends on whether they want to concede.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

Also, it is now confirmed -- Wainwright will undergo Tommy John surgery.

http://twitter.com/CardsInsider/status/40802992475078656

 

[Mexi]

sucks for them

but maybe not
maybe he'll never be the same and they can keep pujols without worrying about wainwright's large extension?