The Cardinals were officially eliminated from playoff contention with the Mets win over Chicago, so let’s look to 2009 and the starting rotation. Chris Carpenter who is dealing with an old nerve issues expects to be back and ready to go at the start of next year.
Carpenter saw a specialist on Tuesday who recommended surgery for a compressed nerve leading to his right shoulder. Carpenter is having another exam today and if he opts for surgery the maximum recovering time is three months.
Carpenter came back on July 30 th against his former team the Atlanta Braves and went four innings while giving up a run. Carpenter made three starts and one relief appearance after coming back from Tommy John surgery. He was 0-1 this year with an ERA 1.76. He left a game in Chicago early after experiencing some discomfort. He attempted to come back one more time in September in a relief role and threw one more inning before getting shut down.
From what I’ve heard, the surgery is not career threatening and should fix the issues he’s had. This would be a key piece to the Cardinals’ rotation. In the past two seasons, Carpenter has made just four starts and five appearances. Prior to that, he has won 41 games over the previous three seasons.