Wainwright Likely Out For Season

Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright will likely miss the entire
2011 season.  Photo courtesy of vivaelbirdos.com

On Monday afternoon, Adam Wainwright threw live batting practice to hitters for the first time this spring.

One of those hitters was Cardinals slugger Matt Holliday, who after facing Wainwright, joked with the staff ace, "batting practice fastball looked pretty good."

Little did we know that Holliday was actually serious. 

Something was literally wrong with Wainwright's velocity.

And today we found out why. 

Adam Wainwright, the second place finisher in the 2010 Cy Young Award voting, will likely miss the entire 2011 season.

Wainwright is looking for a second opinion, but initial signs point to Wainwright's right elbow undergoing Tommy John surgery.

This is a huge blow for the Cardinals obviously, who were depending on a strong starting rotation spear-headed by Wainwright and co-ace Chris Carpenter to carry the Cardinals back to the playoffs in 2011. 

Of course rather than look at the injury, manager Tony LaRussa sees the situation as an opportunity for the team to overcome adversity before the season even starts.  LaRussa is looking for somebody to step up. 

"Someone has to take advantage of the opportunity," LaRussa said. 

It will be interesting to see who that somebody is.