Adam Wainwright headed to injured list with groin injury

Adam Wainwright was in line for his seventh opening day start. Instead, the veteran St. Louis Cardinals right-hander will begin what’s slated to be his final season on the injured list with a groin injury.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol told reporters Thursday before St. Louis’ spring training game against the New York Yankees that Wainwright could miss several weeks.

The 41-year-old apparently strained his groin in a workout before Team USA lost to Japan 3-2 in the championship game of the World Baseball Classic on Tuesday. Wainwright went 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA over eight innings to help the U.S. reach the final.

“We’ll continue to evaluate over the next few days but no timetable at the moment,” Marmol said, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “There is a spot in the rotation now open, and we’re going to have to sit down and make sure that we’re not missing anything that goes into that.”

Wainwright has gone 195-117 with a 3.38 ERA over 17 seasons with the Cardinals. He’s a three-time All-Star who’s posted two 20-win seasons, along with winning two Gold Gloves.

The Cardinals welcomed back to camp Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt, who played for Team USA, along with Lars Nootbaar, an outfielder for Team Japan. The Cardinals posted a picture of them stretching with the caption: “What do you think they are talking about!?”

Goldschmidt and Nootbaar were in the starting lineup Thursday.

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