(Busch Stadium) Instead of taking the mound against the Chicago Cubs this afternoon, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Michael Wacha will be watching from the dugout. The decision is a proactive move to try and ensure he remains strong–and available at the end of the season.
“I think it’s a good opportunity,” explained Mike Matheny. “We’ve talked about this all year. We’re going to do what we can to get Michael every chance to be the kind of pitcher at the end of the season that he is right now. This is one of those opportunities. He wants the ball. He feels good, he looks good. It’s just a matter of how do we keep him there?”
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Though understanding and even accepting of the move, Michael Wacha wasn’t excited about the decision.
“I want to be a guy that’s out there for 32 starts, and making every start,” he stated. “But it’s something they want to do and I’ve just got to be on board with it and use this time to get better, get stronger, and get ready for that next start.”
In each of his six starts this season, Wacha (2-1) has thrown at least 6.0 innings. Similar to staying in a game for an extra batter or inning, he lobbied to keep the start.
“Yeah, there wasn’t much,” Wacha said. “I tried telling them that I’m able to take the ball. I feel great. I feel strong, ready to go. But I guess this is something they have been planning and guess I’ll take it.”
“The conversation with him is, ‘Listen, you’re doing everything you can to change workouts in between, to have a good program to control the things (you) can control’,” said Matheny. “We have to do the same thing from our end. What can we do proactively instead of reactively down the road when we get to the late part of the season and wish we would have maybe taken a little bit different approach. It’s something we talked about early on and now it’s put into action.”
General Manager John Mozeliak said there are no plans for this break to include an MRI on Wacha’s shoulder.
“No, I think right now from everything I’ve been told and see, I think he’s in a great spot,” he said. “But big picture, you look at his history and trying to prevent the performance decline by baking in some rest is what this is all about.”
Wacha will next pitch Friday, May 19th against San Francisco as Adam Wainwright starts tomorrow, followed by Lance Lynn on May 16th and Mike Leake on May 17th against Boston.
photo credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports, Bill Greenblatt/UPI
