Carlos Martinez Placed on IL After Injuring Ankle Celebrating Cardinals HR

The St. Louis Cardinals placed pitcher Carlos Martinez on the 10-day injured list Tuesday with a right ankle injury.

Martinez was hurt Friday while celebrating teammate Jack Flaherty's first career home run in a win over the Colorado Rockies.

The long home run by the pitcher excited the dugout, including fellow starter Adam Wainwright.

Martinez said Saturday he twisted his ankle on a dugout step and pitched through "a lot" of pain in his start that day, per Katie Woo of The Athletic. The right-hander gave up five earned runs on six hits and five walks in five innings.

It came after his best performance of the year, when he allowed zero runs in eight innings during a win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 2.

It's been an up-and-down year for the 29-year-old, who has a 4.35 ERA with just 22 strikeouts in 41.1 innings. He earned losses in each of his first four starts before getting wins in his last three.

Martinez made just five starts in 2020, ending the year with a 9.90 ERA and 2.10 WHIP in 20 innings. It was a disappointing showing for a player who earned All-Star selections in 2015 and 2017 and posted a 3.22 ERA with nine strikeouts per nine innings from 2015-19.

He has proved he can be a front-of-the-rotation starter, but the injury created a question mark in what could be his final year with the franchise. The Cardinals hold a $17 million team option for 2022 with a $500,000 buyout.