With injuries a constant feature, the search for ace starts – MLB News
The St. Louis Cardinals would be dealing with a subject that has generated debate, albeit not as vociferously and publically as one would expect. That is to see who the future ace will be. What have led to this debate – among other things, are its main pitchers’
injuries in last two seasons.
Injuries, goes without saying, are pretty inevitable part of any game. However cautious you are, you remain vulnerable. That vulnerability has different outcomes. From being confined to disabled list for few days or indefinite period or be out of the season,
injuries chase one like one’s shadow.
While a number of players have been significantly affected by it, there is one club which is – arguably, more familiar with its plague than the contemporaries.
Consider.
In 2012, the supposedly eventful season was preceded by a news that the team was not anticipating, or would best avoid. In a year when they were defending the World Series title, their ace pitcher Chris Carpenter was reported to have been affected by an
injury that could lead to missing the whole season.
From the bulging disk that resulted in his stopping to pitch, to inflamed nerve, Carpenter was unable to pitch actively and regularly as the Cardinals had planned. Since they probably had not foreseen it, they did encounter difficulties in the first half
of the season.
The replacement for the pitcher was not easy to find. However, the Cards somehow managed that, and rallied in the second half to get back with characteristic style, winning a wild card berth once again – the way did the previous year.
Exactly the same had transpired in 2011 Major League Baseball season as well. Back then, it was Adam Wainwright who missed the whole season due to injured right elbow. That also came as a shock to the Cardinals.
After all, in 2010, Wainwright was a 20-game winner and runner-up for the NL Cy Young Award. To lose him meant the Cardinals could suffer defensively. However, they dealt with it as well, proceeding to win the 2011 World Series championship.
Two setbacks in two consecutive years have a lot to teach. The Cardinals, therefore, are ready for any possibility in the upcoming season. The rotation depth, for that reason, is better than the previous year.
To be seen now is who can be the Cardinals’ ace in the coming years, keeping all the variables in mind.
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