The St. Louis Cardinals received some bad news on Thursday morning concerning veteran right-hander Adam Wainwright.
The 41-year-old pitched admirably in the World Baseball Classic, delivering two four-inning, one-run starts and earning the win in both of them.
However, it appears as though the two-time World Series champion will begin the 2023 season on the injured list due to a groin strain, per manager Oli Marmol.
The right-hander had dealt with a mechanical flaw last September and earlier in spring training, which caused his velocity to dip slightly.
Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch announced the news on Twitter.
Adam Wainwright will open year on IL. He has a groin strain, Marmol tells us her this morning in Jupiter. #stlcards
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) March 23, 2023
The Cardinals will certainly hope that this doesn’t take too long.
Wainwright was in line for the start on Opening Day against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Unfortunately, he will not have a chance to make one last Opening Day start before the end of his career.
The Cardinals do have plenty of depth to combat this issue.
Pitchers such as Jake Woodford and Andre Pallante could ultimately fill the void in the starting rotation.
St. Louis also has left-hander Matthew Liberatore, who could be used in Wainwright’s spot until he returns.
The team largely sat out for free agency and did not add a big-name starting pitcher, much to the frustration of many of their fans.
They did sign lefty Andrew Suarez to a minor league deal, and therefore have him as an option to fill the void.
Sadly, this continues an ominous trend of Cardinals starters getting hurt in spring training that dates all the way back to 2011, when Wainwright himself needed Tommy John surgery.
NEXT: Cardinals Fan Hopes Big Things Are Coming After The WBC
