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Michael Wacha Injury: Updates on Cardinals Pitcher's Shoulder and Return
June 22, 2014
Updates from Thursday, Sept. 4
The St. Louis Cardinals confirmed Michael Wacha's return to the rotation via the team's Twitter account:
Updates from Tuesday, Sept. 2
Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports on when Michael Wacha will pitch again for the Cardinals:
Goold and Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com report on how much work Wacha will get on Thursday:
Updates from Monday, Sept. 1
MILB.com updated Michael Wacha's status following his latest rehab start:
Rehabbing St. Louis Cardinals RHP Michael Wacha made the start for Springfield and tossed two-plus scoreless innings, striking out one, walking one and allowing only one infield single. He exited with two on and no outs in the bottom of the third after 34 pitches, 24 of which were strikes. RHP Jason Motte also made a Rehab Appearance, dealing a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth inning on 12 pitches, seven for strikes.
Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reported the next steps for Wacha:
Updates from Wednesday, Aug. 27
Michael Wacha will be on the mound again very soon, according to Brian Stull of CBS Sports:
The Springfield Cardinals provided video of his performance on Instagram:
Updates from Monday, Aug. 25
Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reported the latest on Michael Wacha:
Updates from Tuesday, Aug. 19
Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has the latest on Wacha:
Michael Wacha’s throwing program reached step two Monday afternoon, and Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said he was taken aback — in a good way.
“I was expecting less,” said Matheny after Wacha, on the disabled list for two months with a stress reaction in his right shoulder, mixed fastballs and changeups in 35 pitches off the bullpen mound.
Matheny said the training staff and Wacha “are being aggressive, (with) a little more intensity. It looked really close to what we normally would see when he’s out there (on the mound).”
That doesn’t mean Wacha will be returning to the rotation next week. Matheny said he thought the 23-year-old righthander would have a couple of more bullpen sessions later this week before he could face any hitters, either here or in the minors.
But, Matheny said, “It just looked real effortless when the ball was coming out of his hand. He wasn’t trying to hump up and do anything extraordinary. It looked good.”
Updates from Monday, Aug. 11
Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports the latest rehab drill Michael Wacha has performed:
Michael Wacha (stress reaction in shoulder) continues to increase the distance of his flat-ground throwing, stepping back from 90 feet to 120 feet and so on.
The Cardinals expect Wacha to undergo another MRI during the upcoming home stand to determine if he can advance to throwing off a mound.
Updates from Tuesday, Aug. 5
Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch provides a statement from Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak discussing Michael Wacha's injury status and recovery:
Michael Wacha, out since June 17 with a stress reaction in his right shoulder, has been given clearance by the Cardinals’ medical staff to begin a throwing program today.
General manager John Mozeliak wouldn’t speculate on how long it would be before the righthander could pitch again, but he said he asked the question of the club’s medical staff, 'Are you optimistic that he will pitch this year in the major leagues? They said, ‘Yes.'
[...]
Mozeliak said Wacha, who had an MRI on Monday, would be re-evaluated again in two weeks to ascertain how his shoulder has reacted to the stress of the throwing program.
Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com added:
Updates from Monday, July 21
Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch provides a statement from Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak discussing Michael Wacha's recovery:
Wacha underwent both an MRI and CT scan Monday and Mozeliak said the results were encouraging to him.
'This is positive. This still could put him (pitching for the Cardinals) in early September.'
Updates from Monday, July 7
Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reported the latest on Michael Wacha's injured shoulder:
Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports on when Wacha could return to the Cardinals:
Updates from Friday, July 4
Joe Trezza of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has an update on Wacha's status:
Michael Wacha will rest for the rest of the holiday weekend, and Monday an MRI is scheduled to ascertain the progress his right shoulder has made.
Wacha, who was placed on the DL on June 24 with a stress reaction in his shoulder, hasn't pitched since June 17 and hasn't thrown a ball since being deactivated.
[...]
"It feels a lot stronger, its not as tight as it was," Wacha said. "I think we'll have some positive results
Updates from Monday, June 30
Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch provides a statement from Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak discussing Michael Wacha's injury status:
Mozeliak, speaking on behalf of the organization when it comes to medical details, said that doctors saw a positive in that 'the healing has begun.' Rest and urging blood flow to the area will continue to promote recovery. Mozeliak struck one note of caution: 'We don’t know when he’ll be back.'
Updates from Monday, June 23
The St. Louis Cardinals confirmed Michael Wacha's move to the disabled list on Monday:
Original Text
The St. Louis Cardinals officially placed Michael Wacha on the disabled list after he went down with a shoulder injury.
Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com provided the news on Sunday:
Frank Cusumano of KSDK NewsChannel 5 in St. Louis reported that the 22-year-old has been dealing with a stress reaction for a few weeks but that the pain became too unbearable:
Langosch believes this is a crushing development for St. Louis:
Wacha has been the Cardinals' second-best pitcher in 2014. Although he's only gone 5-5 in 15 starts, his 2.79 ERA is second among the team's starting pitchers, while his 8.3 strikeouts per nine innings are top. So far, Wacha has more than lived up to the hype after his great performances in the postseason last year.
Even with the Cardinals trying to maintain their hold on the second wild-card spot in the National League, shutting down Wacha right now is the only course of action. Pushing young pitchers through pain is never an advisable course of action.
Surely St. Louis will be hopeful that giving the right-hander some time off will help the pain in his shoulder subside and allow him to be ready for the more important games in the second half of the season.