Major League Baseball

Cards again face challenge of winning without Wainwright

Published Apr. 26, 2015 11:18 a.m. ET

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Ken Rosenthal

The last time the St. Louis Cardinals lost right-hander Adam Wainwright to a season-ending injury, they won the World Series. The difference was that in 2011, they had righty Chris Carpenter, another workhorse, another leader, another ace.

The Cardinals' current rotation boasts a major-league-best 1.97 ERA through 16 games, with Michael Wacha at 1.33, Carlos Martinez at 1.35 and Lance Lynn at 1.56. But can any of those righties perform as a No. 1, then serve as a dominant October presence if the Cardinals return to the playoffs for the fifth straight season and 12th time in 16 years?

Remains to be seen.

Wainwright, 33, injured the lower part of his left leg running to first base on Saturday night. The expectation, according to major-league sources, is that he will miss the rest of the season with an Achilles injury. Official confirmation would come from an MRI, which he is likely to have on Monday.

The injury to Wainwright will spur immediate speculation about the Cardinals trading for Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels. Other teams, though, might have more to offer Philadelphia. The Cardinals' farm system was only No. 15 in Baseball America's latest organization rankings, in large part because it has graduated so many young players to the majors in recent years.

Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak is not one to panic or deal from weakness; he ultimately did not acquire a starter last winter after exploring deals for Hamels and the Tigers' David Price and monitoring the markets for free agents Jon Lester and Max Scherzer.

But with the injury to Wainwright, the questions about the Cardinals will become more acute. The team traded righty Shelby Miller for right fielder Jason Heyward in the offseason, and even before Wainwright went down, injuries had compromised the rotation's depth.

Left-hander Jaime Garcia is expected to be out until at least June as he recovers from inflammation in his left shoulder. Lefty Marco Gonzales, the Cardinals' No. 6 starter, is on the Triple-A disabled list with soreness in his left pectoral, though the move was said to be precautionary.

Wacha and Martinez, both 23, are expected to be on soft, unspecified innings limits --€“ Wacha missed more than two months last season with a stress reaction in his throwing shoulder, and Martinez has never thrown more than 120 1/3 innings in a professional season.

John Lackey, 36, is at the other end of the age spectrum, and off to an inconsistent start. Lynn, 27, is the one Cardinals pitcher in his prime, the one most likely to assume Wainwright's top-of-the-rotation responsibilities. And yet, even he is not Wainwright, a force both on and off the field.

Carpenter was that type, and he filled the void after Wainwright underwent Tommy John surgery in the spring of 2011, throwing 237 1/3 innings in the regular season, then tacking on 36 more in the postseason.

Garcia and righties Kyle Lohse and Jake Westbrook were the other principal starters during that regular season, all clearing 180 innings. The Cardinals made the playoffs as a wild card, then beat the Phillies, Brewers and Rangers in the postseason, playing 18 of a maximum 19 games.

Can history repeat?

No one in baseball will dare bet against St. Louis, even if Wainwright is indeed lost for the rest of '15. The Cardinals can take comfort knowing they won without Wainwright before. But this is a different season, with different players. Different challenges await.

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