Carpenter sent home (per Bernie per Strauss)

[Cronos]

Had the rotation not had this flying start, the idea of having Carpenter out for any considerable length of time, much less the entire year, would have me in conniptions and giving up on the season.

But they have started out awfully well. Yeah, I know, I'm letting small sample size and the idea of Kip Well's phenomenal start against the light-hitting Astros get to my head, but I guess what it comes down to is that I'm just more worried about the offense and bullpen right now than the pitching staff.

/stream of consciousness babble

I hope for the best for Carp and if worst comes to worst, I hope he does the smart thing and shuts it down and gets ready for next year. They already won it last year; call me a kool-aid drinker, but the pressure to "Win Now" is essentially off and is certainly not worth sacrificing any more of Carpenter's future(and/or his contract).

[Popeye_Card]

Yeah extending him 2 years before free agency made me nervous too. I mean besides arbitration eligible pitchers, who else has been extended 2 full years ahead of time?

I'm guessing that the Cardinals extended him this way because they were heavy in negotiations for Jason Schmidt, and they didn't want him to get signed making twice as much as Carpenter. Just a philosophical thing. I'm not sure Carpenter would be a guy who would get p.o.'ed about such a thing, but I imagine that was the reasoning behind it.

If not Schmidt, they were looking at other mediocre guys in the $10 million per season range. Any of the guys signed this offseason (Meche, Suppan, Lilly, etc.) would have been making more than Carp was scheduled to make.

Personally, I just let him play out his contract, but the Cardinals can do what they want with their money, I guess.

--P--

[jagtrader]

This is the strange world of baseball. If a player is "underpaid," there's a groundswell to make it right. Meanwhile, 80 percent of the league walks around grossly overpaid and no one thinks twice about it.

[Hungary Jack]

Had the rotation not had this flying start, the idea of having Carpenter out for any considerable length of time, much less the entire year, would have me in conniptions and giving up on the season.

But they have started out awfully well. Yeah, I know, I'm letting small sample size and the idea of Kip Well's phenomenal start against the light-hitting Astros get to my head, but I guess what it comes down to is that I'm just more worried about the offense and bullpen right now than the pitching staff.

/stream of consciousness babble

I hope for the best for Carp and if worst comes to worst, I hope he does the smart thing and shuts it down and gets ready for next year. They already won it last year; call me a kool-aid drinker, but the pressure to "Win Now" is essentially off and is certainly not worth sacrificing any more of Carpenter's future(and/or his contract).

I think it's premature to talk about shutting it down for the year. If his ucl was torn (ie required TJ surgery), he would not have been able to throw a second session. We'll have to wait and see.

My guess is that he won't pitch until at least May. I think the rest of the rotation can hold up and we can win plenty of games until then. It's early, it's a long season, and we have enough talent.

[Popeye_Card]

This is the strange world of baseball. If a player is "underpaid," there's a groundswell to make it right. Meanwhile, 80 percent of the league walks around grossly overpaid and no one thinks twice about it.

Tell me about it.

And the fans pick up the collective tab the whole time.

--P--

[jagtrader]

This is the strange world of baseball. If a player is "underpaid," there's a groundswell to make it right. Meanwhile, 80 percent of the league walks around grossly overpaid and no one thinks twice about it.

Tell me about it.

And the fans pick up the collective tab the whole time.

--P--

After watching Carlos Lee rumble around the OF for three games, I'm not shedding any tears the Cards missed out on six years of him.

[jim]

What kind of elbow injury allows you to pitch a side session at game velocity with no pain to the point of declaring yourself fit shortly after the session?

My guess is a 21-day stint on the DL with anti-inflammatories, rest, etc...miss a month total before trying a rehab start or two at Memphis..and if all goes well is back mid-May..

Hard telling. I learned the hard way with my son that serious injuries can not look so bad at first. He tore his ACL in his knee and not only walked off the field, but returned to the game for a couple of plays.

Don't assume anything. It could be nothing, it could be very serious.

Let's wait for the doctors before we start guessing.

[JL21]

The silver lining is the one that a few people have pointed out. I'm excited to see what Hawksworth can do.

And losing Carpenter sucks, even if only for a few starts, but I think we're starting to see that there are at least 2 very good options in the rotation (Wells, Wainwright) and 2 others that should represent upgrades over '06 (Looper, Reyes).

My concerns are still with the hitting and getting Brad Thompson's head out of his butt.

[heyzeus]

The silver lining is the one that a few people have pointed out. I'm excited to see what Hawksworth can do.

And losing Carpenter sucks, even if only for a few starts, but I think we're starting to see that there are at least 2 very good options in the rotation (Wells, Wainwright) and 2 others that should represent upgrades over '06 (Looper, Reyes).

My concerns are still with the hitting and getting Brad Thompson's head out of his butt.

I agree, but I'm not so sure that Looper will prove to be a good option.

[jim]

The silver lining is the one that a few people have pointed out. I'm excited to see what Hawksworth can do.

And losing Carpenter sucks, even if only for a few starts, but I think we're starting to see that there are at least 2 very good options in the rotation (Wells, Wainwright) and 2 others that should represent upgrades over '06 (Looper, Reyes).

My concerns are still with the hitting and getting Brad Thompson's head out of his butt.

It may be the only silver lining.

Reading the posts on this injury, here are a couple of my observations.

1. We don't know anything.
2. X-Rays don't show soft tissue. All the X-ray told us was that the bones are ok, and there aren't any new bone chips flying around.
3. Other than mentioned by RC, there is no silver lining. Losing Carp for significant amount of time isn't going to help him in September. We need to accept that this is just plain rotten news.
4. Our season is not over. Worst case scenario we lose Carpenter for the year, that probably pushes us from low 80's win team to mid-70's. A mid-70 win team can win this division. We could overachieve and sneak in, and once you are in you know what can happen. Don't give up. It's way too early.
5. I can't say for sure, but I suspect one of the reasons that MRI's aren't done without really good reason is for fear of what you might find. The technology today is amazing, and I have no doubt that if every team gave MRI's to their pitchers at least one of them would be shelved that otherwise wouldn't be. Our arms were designed for throwing the occasional rock at a rabbit to get a meal, not what pitchers do. There is probably damage in every pitchers arm, and I wouldn't be shocked if the best strategy sometimes is to simply ignore it. If you take an MRI, you can't ignore it.

Not having an MRI immediately did absolutely nothing other than make us wait. He didn't go out and pitch a game, and when it didn't respond to the side session they ordered it. Seems pretty status quo to me, I don't see anything wrong with what the medical staff decided.