Carp’s Soreness Sending Him Back to STL
MIAMI — Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter will return to St. Louis on Tuesday morning to meet with team doctors about the pain in his right arm that forced him out of Sunday night’s game after 66 pitches, a team official confirmed Monday.
Carpenter came to Dolphin Stadium this afternoon, met with the team’s trainers and had a closed-door meeting with manager Tony La Russa. Afterward, Carpenter said the right arm — specifically in the triceps area — was “still a little sore”. But he added that the plan, at that time, was for him to throw a bullpen here Tuesday and then determine if he could make his next scheduled start, on Friday. After an additional set of meetings with team officials, that plan changed.
Carpenter will return to St. Louis on Tuesday and meet with Dr. George Paletta there to determine the next step for the righthander. The team felt the discomfort was enough — especially this close to Carpenter returning from last summer’s Tommy John surgery – that the doctor should have a first-hand look before Carpenter attempts to throw.
Carpenter said a series of tests performed on the arm and with the arm Sunday night gave him and team officials comfort that his rotator cuff was not an issue. He said the pain was not originating from his surgically repaired elbow.
The Cardinals’ righthander made his third start since returning from a year of rehab Sunday night at Wrigley Field. In the sixth inning, he felt the back of his upper arm grip as he threw a fastball to Jim Edmonds. He made another pitch and felt the same bite of pain. Carpenter left the game after throwing 66 pitches in 5 1/3 innings.
The Cardinals are waiting to diagnose the issue until Carpenter meets with Paletta.
“It’s not what I’m looking for,” Carpenter said. “Hopefully, I get rid of it soon, and get back to where I should be, starting. Obviously, this is not what I was looking to happen at all.”
More later tonight on StlToday.com and in Tuesday’s Post-Dispatch.
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Derrick Goold said he was going to Mizzou for capital-J journalism, but after growing up in the Time Zone Baseball Forgot he was really drawn to MU sitting between two major-league cities. Goold joined the Post-Dispatch in 2001 after working for The Times-Picayune and Rocky Mountain News, covering sports from LSU to NHL and every level of baseball in between. 
I just don’t know how much more of this I can take. It’s really heart wrenching to keep getting punched in the gut like this. Do I take it too seriously? Of course, I’m a Cardinal fan.
I kind of wish the season were over and everyone could just heal up for next year. It ain’t happening this year…and I’m tired of the disappointments.
It is a major body blow, and it sure seems like we have to deal with it more than other teams for some reason. But I guess that’s one of the intangibles about sports at any level; you can look unbeatable on paper, but you never know when injuries will take their toll. Well…we’ve persevered so far, let’s hope the Birds can keep finding ways to win. I still have hope…
Maybe it’s not that bad (though some would say that if it’s not now, it will be after he sees Paletta), but it definitely doesn’t bode all that well. Will Wainwright now move back to the rotation, with McClellan and Perez finishing games?
Shut him down. The front office’s failure to acquire bullpen help has killed this season - dead. No sense wasting Carpenter in a lost season.
Speaking of Wainwright: He will up his total of pitches tonight to 40 or 45. That comes at the request of pitching coach Dave Duncan. No, not because he’s back in the rotation but because of something mentioned over the weekend — 25 pitches is a lot of pitches to get work in. With 40 or so pitches to work with, Wainwright can treat at-bats like at-bats instead of sprints to get through all of his pitches (curve, slider, cut, etc.).
dg
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I agree with the above. Shut him down and save him for next year. This year is not worth risking long term damage to the kid’s arm.
I don’t think this team is very far off from being that team from 06 if the bullpen can attempt to show some heart and pitch effectively. Carpenter is fine it is just a tweak from such a long lay off. A healthy waino in a couple weeks if we can hang around the brewers will be a big boost. Can aaron miles get the the everyday second basemen job please?
Every little pain means caution coming back from one of these surgeries. Let’s hope it’s no big deal. Fortunately most of these Tommy John procedures work out very well. I really don’t expect much from Chris this year. It’ll be a “feel it out” type of process.
Let’s face it. We’re just not that good. One baseball axiom is you have to be strong up the middle. We’re not. The bullpen stinks and the front office decided this team wasn’t worth investing in. Only a Colorado-like run to end the season could save us now.
just keep this in mind for the off-season: The Padres want to trip payroll down to around $40 Mil. Peavy is going to earn 1/5 of that. We will need an open outfield spot for Rasmus. And some guys stuck in the minors that are MLB ready, just the wrong positions.
Just sayin’.