Jon Lester‘s start yesterday lasted just 1 2/3 innings and ended with the Cubs lefty calling for the trainer before exiting with an 8-0 deficit. The Cubs’ initial diagnosis on Lester was tightness in his left lat muscle, though he headed out to see a specialist in Chicago yesterday afternoon. Following that examination, the Cubs are hopeful that Lester will only miss one to two starts, according to Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. Even a quick absence of that nature could mean a 10-day DL stint for Lester, and Sullivan notes that left-hander Mike Montgomery would step into the rotation in the interim.
A few more notable injury updates from around the league…
- Adam Wainwright is on his way back to St. Louis to have his arm examined by Cardinals team physicians, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. Wainwright allowed five runs in three innings yesterday and has been plagued by persistent pain in his elbow when pitching. MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch notes that Wainwright hasn’t reached 90 mph in either of his past two starts and has yielded nine runs on 15 hits and nine walks with just one strikeout in his past 11 innings (Twitter link). Wainwright recently spent a bit more than two weeks on the disabled list due to a back injury.
- The Pirates announced yesterday that Francisco Cervelli has been placed on the 10-day disabled list (retroactive to Aug. 14) due to inflammation in his left wrist. Infielder Max Moroff is up from Triple-A Indianapolis to take Cervelli’s spot on the roster for now. Catcher Elias Diaz was already with the Pirates due to Cervelli’s lingering wrist pain, and he’ll split time with Chris Stewart behind the plate in Cervelli’s absence. It’s an ill-timed injury for the fading Bucs, who have lost five games in a row and are now 5.5 games out of the division lead.
- The knee injury that landed Reds righty Scott Feldman on the disabled list last month has resurfaced and could potentially end his season, writes Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Feldman was candid in telling the Cincinnati media, “If it doesn’t get any better, I don’t think I can pitch like that anymore.” Feldman served up five homers to the Cubs in fewer than four innings before exiting yesterday’s game. Feldman’s fastball was sitting at 82 mph in that rocky outing, Buchanan notes, and the veteran acknowledged that he’s “not really feeling too confident” about the outlook of the injury. This isn’t Feldman’s first bout of troubles with his right knee; the right-hander underwent microfracture surgery on that same knee back in 2011 and tore a meniscus in that same knee four years later with the Astros.
- Diamondbacks outfielder Yasmany Tomas has suffered a second setback in his recovery from a groin injury and is traveling to Philadelphia to meet with a specialist on Monday, per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Tomas has been out since June 2 with a groin issue and already had to shut down one rehab assignment when he incurred a new (and more severe) injury in a different area of his groin, Piecoro writes. The 26-year-old Tomas was hitting .241/.291/.464 with eight homers through 180 plate appearances at the time of his injury.
Wainwright is done. My only hope is that he puts his pride above the money and retires. His body is going out on him and he is to that age where coming back is difficult
I think Wainwright might be an interesting bullpen reclamation project. Put him in the bullpen so he only has to throw an inning or two at a time, and maybe he will regain velocity and have some success.
I think that might not be a bad idea he still has the big curve ball and would have more velo on his fastball coming out of the pen.
Carlos Beltran agrees
More velocity to what? 92? The problem isn’t what he can throw…you can get by with slow stuff…the problem is he can’t locate pitches. Doesn’t matter if you have a big curve or can ramp up velocity if you can’t locate…and he is losing control, throwing slow…and getting hammered
Too early to give up on him. He is a veteran who knows what he can do and make adjustments. Look at some of his starts this year where he was throwing 60-70 mph and getting outs. Good clubhouse presence also. Let’s see what his injury is first.
Pride in quitting? Why on earth would you wish that on him? He’s been an absolute beast and arguably done as much for the Cardinals as any pitcher in franchise history. He more than earned his guaranteed salary.
More than Bob Gibson? Really?
He hasn’t been better than Gibson, and won’t have as many innings for the Cards, but Wainwright has contributed to championships as much as Gibson.
Of course he’s not better than Gibson and I wouldn’t argue that. His career trajectory has taken a hit, but his career isn’t over and his overall value can still increase.
The fact that Wainwright is mentioned in the same breath as other Cardinals greats makes it laughable that someone would suggest he quit and maintain his “pride” while foregoing salary guaranteed in a team friendly deal.
So as a fan you want him to go out and struggle and cost games for the club bc he has been good for years. That doesn’t make any sense. I love what he has done for the organization in the past but to say he deserves to stick around bc of his past and not how he is in the presence is ridiculous. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having the pride to call it quits when you don’t have it anymore. I’d rather quit with pride that I gave everything I had than get shelled night after night and getting lucky to make it 5 innings.
So you want him to quit in the security of the success he’s already had. He isn’t the same guy he’s always been so he should quit, I get it.
That’s what guys like Wainwright do.
@cardsfan
Your option, of him being bad the rest of his career, isn’t the only option. Just because a player needs to recover from an injury, doesn’t mean a player should quit. Not much pride in doing that. I, myself, prefer the “get healthy, and comeback to help the ball club” option.
I think Lester is done for the year and his career will be on a decline from now on
He is already on the decline
Did you see the exchange between Lester and the coaching staff and the dugout?
When he was finally pulled it looks like he’s telling them about the injury and the staff and or Madden is saying,
“why didn’t you mention that earlier before you gave up eight runs?”
Then Lester seems to say, WTF.. I’m putting my butt out there and giving it my all….
Turns out Lester was just venting to Bosio about some defensive plays behind him. Nothing more than that, per CSN Chicago. Can’t really blame him for that; the Cubs defense was stellar last year, but has regressed somewhat this year.
Tomas needs to lose some weight and maybe then he won’t hurt his groin so much
I bet we see that verlander to cubs deal now. The cubs made a ton of money on all those concerts instead of night baseball (and complain about)
The Tigers will need to chill out on their expected player return if this is going to ever happen.
The Cubs don’t have much left in their farm system.
Exactly.
The Tigers chilling out won’t happen and shouldn’t happen. Verlander is pitching like an Ace. You want an Ace? Pay up, or shut up. Due to his contract, you won’t have to overpay. That makes him an affordable Ace.
Maybe Yasmany just needs to put one of those dog cones around it? It will scrape the walls and get caught on the edge of the coffee table a few times, but maybe it will get better?
Betcha both the Cubs AND Cardinals will at least check in on Verlander. Imagine what dealing for Verlander would do for the mentality of the Cardinals’ clubhouse. Wainwright could be finished. Leake has his own problems. Lynn, Verlander, Martinez make for a great 1-2-3 in the post season
The only Cardinals will not look at Verlander. They a lot of young pitching in the minors. Luke Weaver will step in and replace Wainwright. As for the future they will have Reyes, Weaver and Jack Flaherty..
The more I think about it, the more sense it makes. What if talks with Lynn go nowhere? What if Wainwright cant start anymore? What if Reyes isnt ready? You can never have too much pitching. $20mil/ yr for 2 years? Practically a bargain now days. Works good for Verlander too. Chance at playoffs. Weak division. One of the best all time game-callers in Yadi. This might just happen
Verlander is worth the millions only if Mrs. Verlander routinely comes to Busch. I’d be A OK with that!
Why are they putting Montgomery back into the rotation? This makes no sense. When he’s in the pen he is lights out and has an era around 3. When he’s in the rotation it’s in the mid 5 range. It’d make more sense just to call up Eddie Butler who actually pitched decent in the rotation and keep Montgomery in the bullpen.
Don’t you worry. Both of the Justins will pick up the bullpen slack that Montgomery leaves behind.
I would be very surprised if the Cardinals pull a trade off for Verlander. It just doesn’t seem like what they would do. They keep a farm system that annually ranks from the top to no less than the middle of the pack. The reason they can is because they don’t make impulse trades. They would have to know that they have the upper hand, like in the John Lackey trade or the Jake Westbrook deal a few years ago.
I dont think this would be an impulse move. Theyre in a much different position than they were on July 31. 1.5 games behind the Cubs, would you rather have Verlander, Leake or Weaver on the mound? Plus, youve got him for at least 2 more years. Do you honestly know who the starting 5 will be in 2018? It would also be a big ‘attaboy’ for the team that has climbed back in to contention. Not to mention regaining fans confidence in the front office. Heck, we may even be able to include Fowler and Upton in the deal (bonus!)
BTW, Im not the one down-voting you guys. Who knows what might or might not happen. You know MO