The saga of injured St. Louis Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter took another wild turn on Thursday, when he was diagnosed by a Dallas specialist with "thoracic outlet syndrome." The rare syndrome explains the chronic shoulder weakness that Carpenter has experienced since spring training, and though it can be fixed through surgery, the Cardinals are still hoping to avoid that step until at least the offseason.
According to Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com, this didn't come as a surprise to the Cardinals, who suspected that thoracic outlet syndrome was the source of Carpenter's woes. Carpenter threw a bullpen session on Friday, but a second session set for Monday has been cancelled due to shoulder weakness.
For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis. For more in-depth coverage of this series, check out St. Louis Cardinals blog Viva El Birdos and Pittsburgh Pirates blog Bucs Dugout. News and notes from around Major League Baseball can be found on Baseball Nation.