Cards lose Wainwright for seasons

[NAHSTE]

The Braves have pitchers to deal, but only if you are looking for a 35-year old Jap who kind of blows ...

We'll do it for Rasmus, straight up.

:acid:

[mcstl25]

It sucks to lose the best pitcher in the NL over the past two years, but some times injuries like this bring a team closer together. There's no replacing a guy like Wainwright, but hopefully someone will step up and can be a productive 5th starter.

[Woy]

Let's acquire Rick Ankiel again and turn him back into a pitcher.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Its always better when this happens before the season, because then its like you never had the guy to begin with. Same thing happened with the Twins last season with Nathat. There were Twins fans here that thought the sky was falling, but it was early enough to where the Twins could find a guy without acting on the fly. Its easier to replace a closer, I get that, but the Cards will be alright because they know what they are doing.
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[Guest]

Its always better when this happens before the season, because then its like you never had the guy to begin with. Same thing happened with the Twins last season with Nathat. There were Twins fans here that thought the sky was falling, but it was early enough to where the Twins could find a guy without acting on the fly. Its easier to replace a closer, I get that, but the Cards will be alright because they know what they are doing.
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I wouldn't compare losing a closer to losing a starting pitcher, even if both are top five. Yeah, losing Nathan was terrible for the Twins, but they made it through things, and still found someone who could effectively close games. Rauch and Capps were solid, and Gardenhire wants a competition between Capps and Nathan this year.

Losing Wainwright means they lose the ace of their staff, and even though Chris Carpenter is an ace, that moves Jake Westbrook and Jaime Garcia up in the rotation, and I don't think that is a good thing. There is also no good replacement options at this point except what they have in the farm.

At the core of what you are saying though, I agree. Its best for them to lose Wainwright this early, they have time to find an option and know, going forward, that they don't have the player.

[strahanfan92]

JUPITER, Fla. -- The Cardinals expect Chris Carpenter to miss at least one spring start even though the right-hander's strained left hamstring is feeling better.

"It's better than it was [Tuesday]," Carpenter said. "It's still there a little bit. They will treat it and see what happens."


Carpenter
Carpenter left St. Louis' 7-1 victory over the Marlins on Tuesday after feeling a "tweak" in his hamstring. He had pitched 2 2/3 innings and allowed one hit. He iced the leg immediately and was to continue treatment.

Carpenter arrived at camp Wednesday with his leg wrapped in a bandage, but was walking without a limp. He isn't scheduled for a bullpen session, but manager Tony La Russa believes Carpenter will be able to continue throwing.

"I'm sure he's going to keep his arm in shape whether it's play catch or something," Russa said. "The first step was to see [how] he came in today. If he was a lot more sore, that first diagnosis of a tweak or a minor deal was inaccurate. So far we're hoping that's right."

The Cardinals have not announced who will start in Carpenter's place Sunday at the Marlins, but said right-hander Kyle McClellan will start Saturday against the Astros. He has emerged as the favorite to fill the spot of 20-game winner Adam Wainwright, who had reconstructive elbow surgery this week.

"Right now, he's the guy that I think is best suited for the role, provided he can show us this spring what we need to see," pitching coach Dave Duncan told reporters Tuesday. "He's done that before. But ... I'm one vote and not the final vote. In my opinion, it's more important to get him slotted than it is to get anybody else."

Wainwright had season-ending Tommy John surgery on Monday.

Reliever Mitchell Boggs, who left Tuesday's game an inning after Carpenter with a strained lower back, said he felt better Wednesday and planned to long toss in the next few days.

[Guest]

When I saw that about Carpenter, I had to LOL. What bad luck would it be for the Cards to lose both of them.

Seems like it is not serious though, but with all the injuries that Carpenter has endured throughout his career, you can never be certain something else won't happen.