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Cardinals GM: It would seem highly unlikely Wainwright pitches again this season

Jeff Curry / USA TODAY Sports

The St. Louis Cardinals are preparing for a major loss to their rotation. 

Right-hander Adam Wainwright was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Sunday, though the expectation is that he is done for the season with an Achilles injury. 

"I don't know if I'm comfortable answering that," general manager John Mozeliak told KMOX when asked if he anticipates Wainwright missing the rest of the season.

"I think medically we should go through the due diligence on that, but historically an injury to the Achilles tends to be an injury that takes a while to recover and the fact that we're approaching May 1 it would seem highly unlikely that he's going to be able to pitch for us this again season, but having said that I would defer till tomorrow (Monday)."

Wainwright made an early exit from Saturday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers, departing after suffering a left ankle injury during his at-bat in the top of the fifth inning.

The 33-year-old popped up a 1-2 fastball from Wily Peralta to lead off the fifth, but immediately pulled up lame as he started making his way out of the batter's box. Wainwright required assistance to make it off the field and was shortly thereafter removed from the game.

(Courtesy: MLB.com)

"Yeah, crazy - wasn't even going that hard," Wainwright told Brian Stull from FSN after the game. "Saw that it was in play, so I started to run and my foot just shut down on me. So, gave me a cool walking-boot to use for the next couple of days and we’ll get home to St. Louis and check it out and see what happens."

The three-time All-Star will travel back to St. Louis with the club Sunday and undergo an MRI on Monday, while Mozeliak plots his next move. 

"Clearly in a competitive business like baseball, when things like this happen, the last thing you can do is feel sorry for yourself," Mozeliak said. 

"I think we can absorb this but it's always difficult to replace your best pitcher."

Wainwright whittled his ERA down to 1.44 before leaving Saturday's contest, a 5-3 victory and the Cardinals' fourth consecutive win.

"I thought I got hit by something," said Wainwright, who confirmed it was the back of his ankle. "If you look at the replay, I get out of the box and I looked back to think the catcher's mask must of hit me or the bat must've hit me, something must've hit me."

Mitch Harris, the 29-year-old Naval Academy graduate recalled earlier this week, made his MLB debut when he replaced Wainwright in the bottom of the fifth inning.

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