Adam Wainwright officially out for season

It is now official: Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright will miss the remaining of the 2015 season with a torn Achilles.

General manager John Mozeliak confirmed the injury in a press conference at Busch Stadium on Monday afternoon.

Wainwright will have surgery on the torn Achilles this Thursday, and the expected timetable for recovery ranges from about 9-12 months.

“As far as this year goes, he’s done,” Mozeliak said.

The injury occurred during Saturday night’s win against the Milwaukee Brewers. Throughout the game, Wainwright was on an absolute roll, facing the minimum amount of batters through four innings, even though he allowed three hits (the Cardinals were able to turn multiple double plays, and poor base-running by the Brewers helped the cause as well).

In the top of the fifth inning, Wainwright hit a pitch, and started to run out of the batter’s box. However, he stumbled out, and started limping. The Cardinals and every fan watching worried, hoping the injury wasn’t as serious as it looked.

Unfortunately, Monday afternoon, it was revealed it was in fact, a torn Achilles tendon.

This is a devastating blow to the first place St. Louis Cardinals (12-5), who have what is considered one of the best, if not the best, pitching rotation in baseball, with four out of their five starters having ERA’s under 2.00 (John Lackey being the sole exception).

The big question that is on everyone’s mind now as Wainwright misses the season, is that…who takes the open spot? Currently the starters are Lance Lynn, Lackey, Michael Wacha, and Carlos Martinez. There are many options for the Cardinals, and it’s almost certain they’ve been discussed. It just matters on which option they go with.