St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright had what the team called a "minor" arthroscopic surgery on Friday to trim a small piece of cartilage in his right elbow.
Adam Wainwright has surgery on right elbow
Jamie Squire
The team says Wainwright will begin a rehabilitation program in two weeks and will be able to begin his offseason throwing program in eight weeks. An initial MRI exam on Wainwright’s elbow was negative, but after the pitcher requested additional tests, a second MRI showed enough to go forward with Friday’s procedure.
After struggling in his first two postseason starts this season, allowing nine runs on 17 hits in nine innings, Wainwright insisted he was fine to pitch, only that the backside of his elbow was aggravated.
“The elbow-fearing world can know it’s not my ligament,” Wainwright said before Game 1 of the NLCS, referring to the Tommy John surgery that caused the right-hander to miss the entire 2011 season.
“If my body would have felt as good as it did last year with the stuff I was featuring this year, man, would have been fun. Would have been real fun,” Wainwright said before Game 5.
Wainwright responded with a strong start in Game 5 of the NLCS, striking out seven while allowing only two runs on four hits, but suffered a no-decision in the pennant-clinching game for the Giants.
Wainwright, 33, was 20-9 with a 2.38 ERA in 32 starts, with 179 strikeouts and 50 walks in 227 innings. Excluding the 2011 season he missed, Wainwright has finished in the top three in National League Cy Young Award balloting in three of the last four seasons, and could be ticketed for another top-three finish for 2014.
The right-hander has four years and $78 million remaining on a contract he signed in March 2013.
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