St. Louis Cardinals starter Kyle McClellan, whose hip injury landed him on the disabled list after the worst performance of his brief career in the starting rotation, will return shortly after the minimum 15 days are up, if the Cardinals' rejiggering of their rotation is any indication. Rookie Lance Lynn will be moved to Thursday instead of Wednesday for his next start, with Tony La Russa's stated goal "putting McClellan available on the first day he's eligible."
McClellan is eligible to return to the active roster on June 15.
After three years as a set-up man in the Cardinals' bullpen, McClellan had done a solid job replacing Adam Wainwright through the first two months of the season when his hip injury struck. Through 11 appearances he was 6-2 with an ERA of 3.70, although some worry about his middling peripherals to start the season. After a career strikeout rate of 7.0 he was down to 4.5 per nine innings as a member of the rotation.
Lance Lynn will continue to start in McClellan's absence.