Big news was announced today; Adam Wainwright has a significant injury that might require Tommy John Surgery which would shut him down for twelve to sixteen months. He will be re-evaluated, but most sources say it doesn't look good for him pitching any time soon. So in the meantime, who will replace the empty starting pitching spot after the top four pitchers move up spot?
Well, the best option for most teams in a situation like this is a trade. I don't know who the Cardinals could trade for really, but they may look to make one to fill the spot. An option I can better guess at is the idea of signing a free agent pitcher. Most of the free agents starting pitchers have been signed, but a few still remain. The guys that remain really didn't have very good numbers in the last few seasons.
One of these guys is Kevin Millwood. He went 4-16 with a 5.10 ERA. He was on a bad team, but you can't blame the team for his poor pitching season. Millwood from 2007-2010 put up a line of 36-50, 4.72 ERA and 1.51 WHIP. He was supposed to be a K pitcher, but has had a big drop off, averaging only 126 Ks a year over that stretch. He is really the best name on a list of less than stellar pitchers available. If Wainwright's injury had been detected back in November, a few better names to take a chance on would have been available like Carl Pavano, Hiroki Kuroda and Jon Garland.
So if they don't trade for anyone or sign any free agents, they will have to look within their own organization for options. Chris Carpenter, Jaime Garcia, Kyle Lohse, Jake Westbrook and PJ Walters are the only pitchers on the Cardinals' 40 man roster who started at least 1 game last season. Brad Penny, Jeff Suppan and Blake Hawksworth left for new teams. Adam Ottavino was removed from the 40 man roster after the 2010 season.
PJ Walters would be the only pitcher who could start the season at the fifth starter position that has had experience. He didn't have a very good 2010 in limited appearances. In 7 appearances(3 starts) he went 2-0 but with a 6.00 ERA, giving up 20 ER in 30 IP. He also gave up 5 home runs. He doesn't have a good stat sheet so far, but really he's only been able to barely get his feet wet with the big league club. If I were the Cardinals, though, I would look deeper in the Minor League pool of talent.
They have a pitcher with a reputation as a solid starter at the Single A level who they could bring up if they want to rush him out of necessity. His name is Shelby Miller and he sports a 98 mph fastball. In 2010, he went 7-5 with a 3.62 ERA in 104.1 IP. He also posted 140 strikeouts. His K/BB was over 4-1. Being a strikeout pitcher with a strong fastball, he still managed a 46% ground ball rate.
He is young, and he came straight from high school when he was drafted in 2009 with the 16th pick. However, the Cardinals might be desperate and call him up. I don't know if they want to rush him, they may sacrifice this year to have a better future. Their fans always expect their team to compete for the division title, so they will certainly hear it if they throw this season away to map out a future. It will be interesting to see what road they go down in the Adam Wainwright roster situation. I guess we'll just have to wait and see, but they don't appear to have very many good options.
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