Carlos Martinez Injury: Updates on Cardinals Pitcher's Back and Return

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez is in the midst of a career season, but he will miss his next start Tuesday with a back injury.

Continue for updates.

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Gonzales to Start for Martinez

Monday, Aug. 31

The silver lining with this setback is the fact Martinez said “it’s not too bad” and that he “could use the rest,” according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Left-handed pitcher Marco Gonzales will "likely" start against the Washington Nationals instead.    

Martinez boasts a 13-6 record with a 2.91 ERA and 1.27 WHIP and has been a critical part of a pitching staff that leads all of baseball in ERA even without ace Adam Wainwright.

Considering Martinez never pitched more than 89.1 innings in an individual season before this year and is already up to 154.2 in 2015, the timing of the "rest" could work out well for the Cardinals.

St. Louis boasts the best record in the league and is a near lock for the playoffs with just more than a month remaining in the regular season. It will need Martinez healthy and fresh for critical October starts, especially if Wainwright doesn't return from his Achilles injury. A missed start or two in early September is a worthwhile price to pay for a healthy Martinez in pressure-packed playoff games.