The St. Louis Cardinals don't need your sympathy, but they'd probably accept your veteran starters. Just a day after ace Adam Wainwright underwent season-ending elbow surgery Chris Carpenter left his first start of spring training with what the Post-Dispatch reports is a "mild left hamstring strain." Carpenter isn't expected to miss significant time for this latest injury. Mitchell Boggs' lower back strain — I hope this doesn't become a recurring theme — seemed more serious at the time but has also been described as minor.
Carpenter's 35 starts in 2010 were the most in Major League Baseball, as well as a career high; he'd made 32 starts in the previous three years, and hadn't thrown 200 innings since finishing third in the Cy Young vote in 2006. Without Wainwright, the Cardinals find themselves relying heavily on Carpenter's 36-year-old right arm. Boggs, converted to relief near the end of 2009, flashed a high-90s fastball in his first full season in the Cardinals' bullpen. Fernando Salas is the most likely choice at the back of the Cardinals' bullpen if he's not ready to start the season.