ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright is getting a second opinion on his injured right elbow, which the team fears will require reconstructive surgery.
Team spokesman Brian Bartow said Wednesday night that results of magnetic resonance imaging exams and other tests were being examined by Dr. Lewis Yocum in Los Angeles. The team anticipated a news conference this afternoon to disclose findings.
Wainwright, a 20-game winner and runner-up for the National League Cy Young Award last year, was sent back to St. Louis on Wednesday for tests and consultation with team physician George Paletta. Earlier in the day, Cardinals General Manager John Mozeliak said “things do not look encouraging” for the right-hander, who injured his elbow while throwing batting practice Monday at Cardinals’ training camp in Jupiter, Fla.
Mozeliak stopped short of saying Wainwright would need season-ending Tommy John surgery.
“I don’t want to speculate, but obviously ligament damage, that’s usually what it results in,” he said.
Bartow said Mozeliak remained pessimistic after the decision to seek a second opinion.
Wainwright, 29, began feeling soreness Monday. Trainers examined him Tuesday, and Wainwright flew back to St. Louis to meet with team doctors Wednesday.
“It appears to not be good,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. “We’ll see, though.”
The news comes one day after the Cardinals learned utility infielder Nick Punto will miss 8 to 12 weeks because of a sports hernia that will require surgery.
Wainwright’s injury is much more significant. Losing him would leave a big hole in what looked to be a stable starting rotation heading into camp. Chris Carpenter, Kyle Lohse, Jaime Garcia and Jake Westbrook have all had arm surgery during their careers.
There are few pitchers available on the free-agent market, with Kevin Millwood probably the best known.
“It’s going to be tough to replace a guy who wins 20 games, but you never know,” first baseman Albert Pujols said. “One of these young kids could step up like Jaime did last year.”
Wainwright went 20-11 with a 2.42 ERA last season, finishing behind Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay in Cy Young balloting while making his first All-Star team. His 2.93 ERA since 2007 trails only Halladay, and no NL pitcher threw 1 more than Wainwright’s 463/3 innings during the past two seasons.
Sports, Pages 21 on 02/24/2011