Not that I necessarily believe in the “Inverted W” theory of pitching mechanics … but Adam Wainwright certainly shows it. Photo: talksportsphilly.com
2/24/11 update: Wainwright is officially getting Tommy John surgery. As other leading baseball columnists have mentioned, this could have some serious repercussions on the Cardinals both this season and in the future.
You hate to hear injury reports a week into spring training, but they’re starting to roll in. Vincent Padilla is going to be out for an unspecified amount of time for elbow surgery (though this doesn’t hurt the Dodgers as much as an injury to someone like Kershaw or Billingsly would have), and now it looks as if St. Louis’ starter Adam Wainwright may have blown an elbow tendon. I had not read previously the “slightly torn elbow ligament in 2010” item with regard to Wainwright. Either way, the loss of Wainwright for the season adds to a growing list of concerns for the St. Louis franchise.
Just off the top of my head:
- LaRussa‘s anti-union comments irritating his vets
- LaRussa refusing to play Colby Rasmus for large stretches last year.
- The team in general inexplicably not winning the NL Central last year despite having 3 of the best pitchers in the NL and a pretty good offense (6th in runs scored).
- The team blatantly lowballs Pujols in FA talks. By all accounts he was offered a contract that would have only made him about the 5th or 6th highest paid player. Why in the world would your talks with Pujols not START with A-rod’s per-season figure? Ok, perhaps 10yrs $300M is ridiculous but would you sign on for something like 7yrs $210M with 2 options based on performance year to year at the end of the deal?
- Wainright’s injury: I havn’t seen confirmation yet of Tommy John, just seen news that says “significant elbow injury.” There’s just no pitchers out there to be had as a replacement (just ask the Yankees) either.
- St. Louis’ farm system has been down recently. Most scouting establishments ranked it 29th or 30th in 2010 but in the 18-20 range for 2011. So there’s not a lot of hope coming up.
The Cardinals under achieved as a team in 2010 (winning 86 but having a Pythagorean win total of 91) WITH Wainwright pitching at a Cy Young level. Without him, the Cards could be sinking back to the middle of the pack, leaving the division for Cincinnati and Milwaukee to battle it out.
Rough waters ahead for the Cardinals.