Saturday, word broke that Cardinals closer Luke Gregerson has a hamstring injury and could possibly begin the season on the disabled list. Sunday, starting pitcher Adam Wainwright joined him in the hammy club, as he'll begin the season on the disabled list with a strained left hamstring.
The Cardinals haven't announced a timetable here for Wainwright's return, but we do know he'll miss at least two of his scheduled starts thanks to the DL stint. The news doesn't sound like it's a severe hamstring injury, so the best guess here is Wainwright will be down for several weeks to get it fully healed, not risking re-injury. Perhaps he misses most of April and then is good to go the rest of the way.
The injury moves Jack Flaherty into the rotation to start the season behind Carlos Martinez, Michael Wacha, Luke Weaver and Miles Mikolas.
Wainwright, 36, is coming off his worst season. He pitched to a 5.11 ERA, 1.50 WHIP and 96 strikeouts against 45 walks in 123 1/3 innings last season. He dealt with elbow issues through most of the season and in the offseason had surgery to remove a cartilage flap.
