TODAY: The Cardinals have officially activated Wainwright, creating a 40-man roster spot by placing Carlos Martinez on the 60-day DL.
TUESDAY: The Cardinals are set to activate right-hander Adam Wainwright from the 60-day DL, and he will be immediately available to pitch out of the bullpen, reports MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch (via Twitter). Of course, Wainwright will have to wait a bit longer to get into a game, as tonight’s contest between the Cardinals and Pirates has been postponed due to rain. St. Louis will need to make a 40-man roster move in order to accommodate Wainwright’s activation.
Wainwright pitched 25 innings for the Cardinals earlier this season before a ruptured Achilles landed him on the disabled list. The injury was believed to be season-ending in nature, but Wainwright has been on an accelerated rehabilitation program that will see him get healthy just in time for St. Louis’ postseason push.
The addition of Wainwright to the bullpen will be a late boost to a Cardinals team that has also lost pitchers Jordan Walden and Carlos Martinez as well as catcher Yadier Molina, though Molina could potentially return for the playoffs at this point. The Cardinals have yet to officially clinch the division, but they’re the overwhelming favorite to capture the NL Central crown, as they hold a four-game lead with five games to play.
Great news! It will be interesting to see what type of impact he has
Wait a second… Wainwrights in the bullpen, the mets and cardinals are both in the playoffs and they can’t play each other until NLCS. Is it 2006?
If he has a good showing for the rest of the regular season, I wonder if they consider starting Wainwright in Postseason? With Martinez out indefinitely, and Lynn still struggling, they may need an actual starter.
Only downside to that is he’ll have to bat for himself and run constantly which Cards may want to avoid due to the nature of his injury. It will be interesting to see though. I remember hearing his velocity is much better than what it was pre-injury, which could be huge.
I imagine if he is cleared for bullpen activity right now, he may be ready to be put in the rotation by the NLCS if the cards get that far.
Always nice to have a little bit of good news after all the bad!
Depends upon what the Medical staff thinks of the stability of the achilles. They may not want him batting and running the bases yet, hence the bullpen. Arm strength for the number of innings to start will be a factor as well. Has not pitched in a game for months. Like beginning spring training again. They will not want to over pitch him to have the chance at an arm injury on top of it. Will be interesting to see though.
Unless its part of a “bullpen” start no way he’s a starting pitcher this post season. Isn’t enough time to stretch him out.. and have him as a weapon in the bullpen.
If they decide to implement some old school TLR style, he and Wacha could be a combination starter doing 3 inning starts. Just a wild thought but who knows, it could work.