After only seven pitches on Friday night, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez was forced to exit the game with what has initially been diagnosed as tightness in his right shoulder.
“Got an MRI going tomorrow, but just coming back it’s shoulder stiffness,” said Mike Matheny. “They did some tests on him with the medical people–positive with what they’re seeing, but get a better look at it.”
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Martinez was visibly frustrated as he left the field, holding his glove over his face as he walked off to the clubhouse.
“He doesn’t feel a lot of pain, he just feels a little bit of weakness,” translated Jon Jay for Martinez. “He’s not too, too concerned about it but he’s going to wait and see tomorrow and see what happens.”
The tightness first began for Martinez when he pitched against Chicago on September 20th. He pitched 6.2 innings in the Cardinals 4-3 win over the Cubs.
“A little tight, just a little tired,” described Jay of Martinez’ bullpen session after that. “He tried to throw today and he knew he didn’t feel completely right, but he thought he could push through it but after he threw the first pitch, he knew that something was bothering him a little bit.”
It’s not been uncommon for Martinez to start with a slower velocity early in the game and then ramp up to his 98mph+ fastball as the game goes on, but tonight was not such an occasion.
“He looked different right from the beginning, but once again we didn’t know exactly what that was all about,” stated Matheny. “He said he was ready to go, ready to pitch, and it just wasn’t right.”
“He’s felt tired before, but he’s never had something like this,” said Jay for Martinez. “When he threw against the Cubs he felt it a little bit and after the game he was sore, but then in the bullpen he was fine and that’s why he wanted to push today.”
It was also the reason Martinez did not alert the coaching staff to any issue.
“No, he didn’t say anything because he thought it was normal and wanted to push through it,” explained Jay.”He feels like he will make another start and he’s comfortable knowing that he’s going to work hard and do whatever it takes.”
“The fact that they came back and ran him through all the tests that they needed to run him through and they weren’t overly concerned at what they saw, that’s a good thing. We’ll just wait and see what the MRI says, see tomorrow,” added Matheny.
photo credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
