The St. Louis Cardinals appear to be taking Adam Wainwright‘s season-ending injury in stride, even though history suggests they should be pressing the panic button.
Wainwright, who won 39 games the past two seasons, is set to undergo Tommy John surgery on his right elbow, throwing the NL Central’s top pitching rotation into flux. Losing him is a potentially devastating blow to a team that finished five games behind the Cincinnati Reds a year ago. He’s virtually irreplaceable, and that’s a big problem — despite what the Cardinals are saying.
“I think the rotation is still good enough to make the playoffs, and when you get in, anything can happen,” left fielder Matt Holliday told Sports Illustrated.
You may lose an ace in February, but the repercussions are felt in September. Holliday’s optimism is exactly what you’d hope for out of a veteran All-Star. But it’s worth noting that the Cardinals made the playoffs in four of six seasons from 2004 to 2009, and the only years they didn’t — 2007 and 2008 — were when Chris Carpenter missed the better part of two seasons recovering from Tommy John.
