St. Louis Cardinals Could Be Without Adam Wainwright For Rest of Season

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright could be done for the season after sustaining a left Achilles injury during a game against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 25. The Cardinals placed him on their 15-day disabled list on Sunday.

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright could be out for the rest of the 2015 MLB season.

According to MLB.com’s Jennifer Langosch, the Cardinals placed Wainwright on their 15-day disabled list on April 26 after he sustained a left Achilles injury during a game against the Milwaukee Brewers a day earlier. St. Louis faces the grim prospect of going through the rest of the season without him.

UPDATE: Cardinals P Adam Wainwright expected to miss rest of the season with an Achilles injury. (via @FOXSports) pic.twitter.com/QSRHu8L95T— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 26, 2015

Wainwright is scheduled to undergo an MRI over the weekend, with the result most likely to come out on Monday, per Langosch. The diagnosis will give the Cardinals an idea of the severity of the injury and a projected timetable for his impending rehab.

Langosch stresses most Achilles injuries “required several months of rehab.”

Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak told Langosch on Sunday the team is bracing for the worst:

“Obviously, anytime you’re dealing with an Achilles, it’s not good, whether it’s a strain or a tear. Either way, it’s missing time. I’ll wait until he sees the doctor tomorrow before making a [definitive] statement [about how long he’ll be out]. But clearly, it’s not good news.”

After St. Louis placed Wainwright on its 15-day disabled list, they replaced him with catcher Cody Stanley, per MLB.com. Stanley will fortify the Cardinals’ catching corps while Yadier Molina is recuperating from right-knee tightness.

Adam Wainwright will have MRI Monday to find out extent of left ankle injury: http://t.co/sSGHfGpnSP pic.twitter.com/pGcXY0N4i1— MLB (@MLB) April 26, 2015

Langosch stresses it still remains unclear who will take Wainwright’s spot in the Cardinals’ pitching rotation. Marco Gonzales of the Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate, the Memphis Redbirds, will be out for at least this week due to tightness in his left pectoral muscle.

On the other hand, t will take another month for pitcher Jaime Garcia before he is able to suit up again. For now, it appears Redbirds pitchers Tim Cooney and Tyler Lyons are poised to get called up to fill in for the injured Wainwright, per MLB.com.

For his part, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny remains unfazed, per Langosch:

“I just know that we have different guys who are ready to take whatever responsibility comes, whatever role comes. When I say we need someone to step up, there’s going to be an opportunity for someone to start.

“And there’s going to be some opportunities for leadership, too. Even during this DL time, I know Adam is still going to be around. But it’s different every time you take someone away or add someone.

#Cardinals confirm that Adam Wainwright suffered Achilles injury, could be done for season per @Ken_Rosenthal. More: http://t.co/NO9bRa4Tia— MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) April 26, 2015

“We have to make sure that things are getting taken cared of, work is getting done and leadership is there. We have all the pieces to make that happen.

“It is a test. We’re going to let the guys go back out there and play. They’ve had a little time to think about this. The response and the answer is we knew that some tests were going to come. This is a big one that we’re getting early, but we’re going to see what we’re made of.

“It’s a test that, I think, all these guys have been through at some level before. And to me it’s an opportunity for somebody to stand up, step up and take the bull by the horns.”

Wainwright sustained the injury after he led off the fifth inning against the Brewers on Saturday and hit a pop-up to right field. As soon as the Brewers’ Adam Lind caught the ball, Wainwright apparently injured his left foot as he made his way limping toward first base, per The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Rick Hummel. 

.@UncleCharlie50 as you go get checked tomorrow, please know that all of #CardinalNation is behind you! pic.twitter.com/QJ43c8mCAm— The Birds On The Bat (@BirdsOnTheBat13) April 27, 2015

Wainwright spoke with Hummel about what possibly lies ahead in the injury’s aftermath on Saturday:

“That would be real tough especially the way I was trying to feel. It was by far the best I’ve felt this year. That’s the hardest part, knowing that I was making such good adjustments and now I’ve got a setback. 

“I’ve never had anything down there to compare it to. I’m thinking what in the heck just hit me. I thought the catcher’s mask must have hit me. Or the bat must have hit me.

“It was crazy. I wasn’t even going that hard. I just popped it up.

“I saw that it was in play so I started to run and my foot just shut down on me. It’s in the back of my ankle. Everything right now now is all speculation. I’ve not got my hopes up or down.

“There’s not much swelling but right now it’s pretty wrapped up. It’s a very strange sensation. It’s just kind of numb right now.” 

Hummel says Wainwright was still wearing a protective boot on Sunday, per a separate St. Louis Post-Dispatch update. 

Wainwright pitched four scoreless innings to help St. Louis beat Milwaukee, 5-3, on Saturday. 

Make sure to log on to I4U News for the latest trends and developments for the geek mind.