ST. LOUIS -- A day later, you barely could see a bruise on Cardinals right-hander Michael Wacha from his foul-ball mishap Wednesday night.
A small mark was visible where the baseball hit him just above the back of his right elbow after ricocheting off the dugout wall. But that was it. Injury avoided.
"As far as I know, I'm on track (to make my next start)," Wacha said, an opinion that later was reinforced by manager Mike Matheny. "It feels good. I have all the range of motion I was looking for. I'm pretty happy with how it feels."
No swelling was visible and Wacha said he had no problems overnight with the right elbow.
Matheny said Wacha was more scared than seriously injured when he briefly lost feeling in his right hand. That Wacha already had worked six innings, throwing 88 pitches, made the decision to lift him a no-brainer even though he had not allowed a run.
"It's definitely scary," said Wacha, understandably. "I've never had that feeling before. Luckily, that numbness went away. It feels normal right now."
If he stays on turn as expected, Wacha will start Monday afternoon against the Yankees at Busch Stadium.
You can follow Stan McNeal on Twitter at @stanmcneal or email him at stanmcneal@gmail.com.
