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So, after a brief period of whispers and speculation, the official word is out that Adam Wainwright will require Tommy John surgery on his elbow. The only detail left to fill in is when he'll go under the knife, and according to Joe Strauss, he'll go under the knife next Monday. The Cardinals won't confirm the report, but the Cardinals are just like that sometimes, and Strauss is 100% confident he's right.
The operation will be performed by Cardinals team physician George Paletta. Interestingly enough, Paletta has already performed ligament replacement surgeries on teammates Chris Carpenter, Jaime Garcia, and Kyle McClellan, so Wainwright can rest assured that he's in good hands. Tommy John surgery is a major operation, but it's one with an excellent rate of success, so he should be all right in due time.
So the Cardinals will look to survive without their best starter, and Wainwright will eye the 2012 season for his return. It's worth noting that this surgery has an effect on Wainwright's contract. Previously, Wainwright vested a $9 million option for 2012 and a $12 million option for 2013. However, because he'll finish the 2011 season on the disabled list, the Cardinals may choose to void them, as per a specific built-in clause. Whether or not they will is, of course, up to them, but they will now have that choice.
Ever since the injury suffered by Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright on Monday, the team's comments have been striking a decidedly negative tone. This report, then, is not a huge shock: Adam Wainwright will need to undergo Tommy John surgery. The Cardinals broke the news via Twitter.
Mo confirms Wainwright will need Tommy John surgery
The "Mo" in question is general manager John Mozeliak. Though it wasn't explicitly stated by the team, the recovery time necessitated by Tommy John surgery means that Wainwright will certainly be out for the 2011 season.
Just as with most pitchers whose next step is Tommy John surgery, Wainwright's long-term prognosis figures to be good. He's 29 years old, and the surgery has been successfully and routinely performed on young and old alike. It's possible, however, that this could cause more anxiety than usual amongst Cardinals faithful -- with fears that Albert Pujols could be headed out of St. Louis after the season, they certainly want 2011 to count, and the loss of the 2010 Cy Young runner-up is obviously a huge blow.
For more on Wainwright and the Cardinals, check in with our Cards blog, Viva El Birdos.
On Thursday, Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright is scheduled to receive a second opinion on his injured throwing arm. Meanwhile, the tone taken by the team continues to be a pessimistic one. From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Joe Strauss:
Frequently sanguine about injuries, the Cardinals and general manager John Mozeliak made no attempt to hide the situation's potential gravity.
Mozeliak conceded that "things do not look encouraging" and called Wainwright's condition "a significant injury." Manager Tony La Russa called it "a huge hit."
Wainwright apparently experienced minimal discomfort while throwing on Monday, but felt the first warning signs after waking up from a nap later in the day. The 29-year-old right-hander has improved steadily over his career to evolve into the most consistently effective pitchers in baseball. Last season was the best in his career, one in which he recorded a 2.42 ERA with a 1.051 WHIP in 230.1 innings.
The Cardinals do have another great arm in 24-year-old Jaime Garcia, who was shut down late last season but appears to be in top form so far this Spring. Former Cy Young winner Chris Carpenter would figure to serve as the team's ace in Wainwright's absence, but the back of the rotation was a tricky situation for the Cardinals last season.
For more on Wainwright and the Cardinals, visit our Cards blog, Viva El Birdos.
Adam Wainwright, the ace of the Cardinals pitching staff, is flying back to St. Louis Wednesday morning to have the ligament in his right elbow examined after he felt discomfort in the joint on Monday. Early indications are that it is a "significant injury," with general manager John Mozeliak saying that at this point, it is "not encouraging."
The team's official Twitter feed is not very optimistic either, writing, "At this time things don't look good, will have more info after he sees doctors," while ESPN's Buster Olney is already speculating that the Cardinals "are expecting [a] Tommy John situation."
Wainwright's discomfort began during a bullpen session on Monday, when he felt "something in his right elbow."
"I can say just based on the initial evaluation from our training staff, things do not look encouraging. But before jump to any conclusions we'll just wait until the re-evaluation this afternoon."
The team will provide an update Wednesday afternoon. Wainwright first suffered a tear in the same elbow ligament in 2004, and last year he missed his final start with discomfort in the joint. Mozeliak recognizes that "there is probably a connection."
Wainwright finished second in the Cy Young voting in 2010 with 20 wins and a 2.42 ERA.
Olney reports that popular thinking is that the Cardinals will pursue Kevin Millwood, the 36-year old RHP who recently turned down a minor league offer from the Yankees. Millwood was 4-16 in 2010 with the Orioles, with a 5.10 ERA.
Adam Wainwright Has Tommy John Surgery, Prepares For Rehab
That Adam Wainwright needed Tommy John surgery came as a horrifying shock to the Cardinals, who now have to go forward with a considerably weakened starting rotation. But all they can do now is hope for the best for their roster, and hope for the best for Wainwright, and with the latter in mind, it's worth noting that Wainwright had successful surgery on Monday.
General manager John Mozeliak characterized the operation as having gone "very well," and Wainwright says that he intends to begin his long rehabilitation as soon as two weeks from Monday. Said rehab begins very small and advances at a mind-numbingly gradual pace, but there's no other alternative, and Wainwright will just have to deal with it. It helps that he can get advice and recommendations from so many teammates who have undergone the same procedure.
For what it's worth, Wainwright vows that he'll be back by next spring. He says:
That may be optimistic, but this is a fairly routine procedure at this point with an ever-diminishing period of recovery, so it isn't impossible. Tommy John surgery ruins one season. It doesn't necessarily have to ruin two.
Mar 01 8:44p by Jeff Sullivan - 0 comments