Michael Wacha Injury: Updates on Cardinals Pitcher's Elbow and Return

Updates from Thursday, May 22

Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com provides an update on Michael Wacha's status:

Original Text:

Even the dugout isn't a safe haven for Michael Wacha. The St. Louis Cardinals starter was struck in the right arm by a foul ball and knocked out of Wednesday night's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, per Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com:

The team revealed that Wacha suffered only a contusion, and his exit from the game was for precautionary reasons:

After bursting onto the scene in the second half of the 2013 season, Wacha has followed up with a strong sophomore campaign. He was 3-3 heading into the night, with a 2.82 earned run average. Chris Tunno put into context how good the 22-year-old has been so far:

As Fox Sports' Gabe Kapler pointed out, Wacha and Adam Wainwright give St. Louis one of the best 1-2 combos in baseball:

Taking him out of the starting rotation for an extended amount of time would be a major blow for the Cardinals, who entered Wednesday three games back of the Milwaukee Brewers. Although St. Louis has no shortage of starting pitchers, Wacha looks to be a special kind of talent.

The good news is that the injury is only a contusion, rather than some sort of muscle/ligament issue. Presumably, Wacha could miss a start, but he shouldn't be out for too long.