Walden Extended Absence

The St. Louis Cardinals will likely be without pitcher Jordan Walden as second review of the MRI on his shoulder did not compare favorably with the MRI taken back in December.

“Basically his sub-scap has a strain and it’s going to require anywhere from 6-10 weeks to heal and based on how that healing goes will dictate when he starts throwing,” shared General Manager John Mozeliak on Wednesday afternoon. “The good news is he’s avoiding surgery, the bad news is he’s going to be out a while.”

Walden lead the team with 12 appearances prior to going on the disabled list April 29th.

“I think given his mechanics, there’s just a lot of stress in that area,” answered Mozeliak to if that workload contributed to the strain. “We knew that going in, but were hopeful we could get a lot out of him.”

As for the Cardinals bullpen, Seth Maness will likely move from being called in for double-play or various situations to the setup role before Trevor Rosenthal.

“I find Maness is useful however you use him,” stated Mozeliak. “He’s probably the one guy, I think, who’s the most versatile pitcher on our team. I think he literally could start. I think he could do just fine finishing a game. So, he really does give us flexibility. Somebone else is going to have to step in and hopefully, it’s somebody like a Belisle.”

CHOATE REMAINS A LOOGY

Even with the depleted bullpen, Randy Choate will continue to be used as a left-handed specialist–at least for now.

“I think when you’re carrying 13 you can probably do that, treat him as that, but if we drop to 12 he may have to face a righty from time to time,” said Mozeliak.

The Cardinals are likely to stay with 13 pitchers even after their off-day on May 11th.

GARCIA STARTS IN MEMPHIS

–The rehab start this Sunday for Jaime Garcia will take place for the Memphis Redbirds. He is expected to throw between 70-80 pitches. Marco Gonzales, who will start for Memphis on Saturday, should make about 60 pitches.