Injury bug hits Cards hard again
Reading the schedule as much as the exams of his ailing left leg, center fielder Jim Edmonds and the Cardinals decided that now ? even with a roster shredded by injury ? would be the time to get him well instead of just getting him through.
Diagnosed with a pinched nerve in his lower back and tendinitis in his left leg, Edmonds joined pitcher Braden Looper (shoulder sprain) as the newest of a growing list of Cardinals on the 15-day disabled list.
Both were placed on the disabled list Monday, retroactive to Saturday.
Edmonds' move means five of the Cardinals' nine starters on opening night are on the disabled list, from leadoff hitter David Eckstein (back) to pitcher Chris Carpenter (elbow) and three in between.
"I went to them and said if I wasn't going to play every day ? like I haven't been ? I might need to get this taken care of," Edmonds said. "I looked at the schedule and I noticed there were a few lefties throwing, and the All-Star break coming up. I've been playing this whole first half with this leg injury, I thought maybe now would be the time to get it healthy. I guess that sounded good to them."
The Cardinals promoted outfielder Skip Schumaker, a member of the opening-night roster, and lefthanded pitcher Troy Cate from Class AAA Memphis to take the two open spots on the roster.
Looper left his start Friday in the fifth inning because of shoulder soreness. On Monday, an MRI scan of his right shoulder showed minor inflammation in the joint. Looper said he's going to take a few days off from throwing.
"The doctor feels I can progress pretty quickly once I start throwing,'' he said.
A career reliever until moving to the starting rotation this season, Looper is nearing a career high for innings pitched.
He's three shy of tying the 86 innings he pitched in 78 appearances in 2002. "My opinion ? people make more out of that than it is," Looper said. "Obviously, this is new territory for me, but I think there were other things involved that caused this. I think it was the 40-pitch inning (in Friday's loss). I think probably innings did have something to do with it. The workload.
"It's better to be safe than sorry and take advantage of the time right now," Looper concluded. "Recharge the batteries and go the rest of the year."
That describes the club's approach for both players.
Manager Tony La Russa said both need the time now so they aren't hampered later.
Looper already was expected to miss one start, and Edmonds has missed four games in six days, sitting out Monday against Kansas City lefty Odalis Perez.
Twice in the past couple of weeks Edmonds has had MRIs. Those revealed the pinched nerve that he has tried to overcome.
La Russa said there were signs Edmonds has been dealing with a sore leg for a while: balls not caught in center, bases not taken.
He "doesn't look like himself," La Russa said. "He's been playing at less than 100 percent and this is a way to get him to 100 percent."
The leg has been a concern since spring training and has had varying degrees of soreness since opening night, Edmonds said.
The center fielder had surgery on his left foot during the winter, and that limited the conditioning and strengthening he could do for his legs.
"I never really got my left leg to 100 percent," Edmonds said. "I had four of the last six days off and if I was going to do that I might as well ... take advantage of that and get as healthy as I can.
"I can't play with this the whole season, not without it getting better."
