On Saturday night, it was reported by the St. Louis Cardinals that Adam Wainwright suffered a left ankle injury and would be re-evaluated on Sunday morning. The injury did not seem like anything of concern. Most thought Wainwright would miss a start or two, then he would return to the rotation with his ace status. However, the injury turned out to be much worse.
Wainwright is done for the 2015 season, as Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported. He has yet to undergo an MRI, but the Cardinals are not optimistic about the diagnosis. This is a huge blow to the Cardinals, especially with their division predicted to be a tight race to the end.
The injury was to the back of his ankle, which is his Achilles tendon. Wainwright struggled to walk off the field, proving that there was some type of detachment.
“I thought I got hit by something. If you look at the replay, I get out of the box and I looked back to think the catcher’s mask must of hit me or the bat must’ve hit me, something must’ve hit me," said Wainwright.
St. Louis would have turned to Jamie Garcia or Marco Gonzalez to replace Wainwright in the rotation for the remainder of the season, but both are dealing with shoulder injuries. This means that the focus of their next option will be on Tyler Lyons or even Tim Cooney.
The Cardinals were heavily connected to Philadelphia Phillies ace Cole Hamels during the offseason rumor mill. It only makes sense that the two teams could make a potential blockbuster deal. Hamels wants to be on a winning team and has stressed that factor for months now. The Cardinals obviously need a leader in their young rotation, Hamels would fit that role within seconds of arrival.
The average recovery time for a torn Achilles tendon is about six months, which puts Wainwright out for the season.