02-24-2011, 11:27 AM
Adam Wainwright to miss season
St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright will undergo Tommy John surgery on his right elbow and will miss the entire 2011 season, general manager John Mozeliak said Thursday.
Wainwright, a 20-game winner and runner-up for the NL Cy Young Award last year, was sent back to St. Louis on Wednesday for tests and consultation with team physician George Paletta. Earlier in the day, general manager John Mozeliak said "things do not look encouraging" for the right-hander, who injured his elbow while throwing batting practice Monday.
"We have confirmed that Adam Wainwright will require Tommy John surgery. So obviously, he'll be out for the year," Mozeliak said, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "Not a real surprise to us, but certainly a disappointment and a finality to this process. As we look to the future now we certainly believe that we have a strong starting rotation on this club. And now we're going to have to try and fill it in terms of a fifth spot."
Mozeliak said the typical recovery time for pitchers who undergo Tommy John surgery is 12 to 15 months.
The 29-year-old Wainwright began feeling soreness Monday. Trainers examined him Tuesday and Wainwright flew back to St. Louis to meet with team doctors on Wednesday.
Losing Wainwright leaves a big hole in what looked to be a stable starting rotation heading into camp. Chris Carpenter, Kyle Lohse, Jaime Garcia and Jake Westbrook have all had arm surgery during their careers.
There are few pitchers available on the free-agent market, with Kevin Millwood probably the best known.
The 6-foot-7 Wainwright went 20-11 with a 2.42 ERA last season, finishing behind Philadelphia's Roy Halladay in Cy Young balloting while making his first All-Star team. His 2.93 ERA since 2007 trails only Halladay, and no NL pitcher threw more than Wainwright's 463 1/3 innings during the past two seasons.
La Russa said Wednesday that if Wainwright were to miss a significant amount of time that he expected to find his replacement at camp from a group that includes Lance Lynn, P.J. Walters, Ian Snell and reliever Kyle McClellan.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2011...id=6154112
St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright will undergo Tommy John surgery on his right elbow and will miss the entire 2011 season, general manager John Mozeliak said Thursday.
Wainwright, a 20-game winner and runner-up for the NL Cy Young Award last year, was sent back to St. Louis on Wednesday for tests and consultation with team physician George Paletta. Earlier in the day, general manager John Mozeliak said "things do not look encouraging" for the right-hander, who injured his elbow while throwing batting practice Monday.
"We have confirmed that Adam Wainwright will require Tommy John surgery. So obviously, he'll be out for the year," Mozeliak said, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "Not a real surprise to us, but certainly a disappointment and a finality to this process. As we look to the future now we certainly believe that we have a strong starting rotation on this club. And now we're going to have to try and fill it in terms of a fifth spot."
Mozeliak said the typical recovery time for pitchers who undergo Tommy John surgery is 12 to 15 months.
The 29-year-old Wainwright began feeling soreness Monday. Trainers examined him Tuesday and Wainwright flew back to St. Louis to meet with team doctors on Wednesday.
Losing Wainwright leaves a big hole in what looked to be a stable starting rotation heading into camp. Chris Carpenter, Kyle Lohse, Jaime Garcia and Jake Westbrook have all had arm surgery during their careers.
There are few pitchers available on the free-agent market, with Kevin Millwood probably the best known.
The 6-foot-7 Wainwright went 20-11 with a 2.42 ERA last season, finishing behind Philadelphia's Roy Halladay in Cy Young balloting while making his first All-Star team. His 2.93 ERA since 2007 trails only Halladay, and no NL pitcher threw more than Wainwright's 463 1/3 innings during the past two seasons.
La Russa said Wednesday that if Wainwright were to miss a significant amount of time that he expected to find his replacement at camp from a group that includes Lance Lynn, P.J. Walters, Ian Snell and reliever Kyle McClellan.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2011...id=6154112