The Cardinals believe their rotation will be fine if right-hander Brad Penny recovers as quickly as they expect from a muscle strain in his upper back.
Still, the extended loss of right-hander Kyle Lohse leaves the Cardinals vulnerable, and it would not be a surprise to see the club add a starting pitcher.
Rookie left-hander Jaime Garcia threw only 38 innings last season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. The team will monitor his innings and pitch counts carefully; Garcia already has thrown 55 1/3 innings, and has exceeded 100 pitches in only two of nine starts.
The Cardinals will attempt to patch the loss of Lohse internally, but they also might need an occasional fill-in for Garcia – and that’s assuming that Chris Carpenter stays healthy.
While the Cardinals possess the flexibility to add payroll, they will be reluctant to trade prospects after moving a total of seven in deals for Matt Holliday, Mark DeRosa and Khalil Greene since December 2008.
They gave up infielder Brett Wallace, the Blue Jays’ top young hitter, in the Holliday deal; dealt right-hander Chris Perez to the Indians for DeRosa; and sent righty Luke Gregerson to the Padres in the Greene trade.
Here’s a thought for the Cardinals, though it is merely speculation: White Sox lefty Mark Buehrle, a native of St. Charles, Mo., who always has wanted to pitch for his hometown team.
The White Sox, eight games back in the AL Central, would not necessarily concede by trading Buehrle; they could replace him in their rotation with Triple A right-hander Dan Hudson.
Buerhle gains full no-trade protection on July 15, but the bigger obstacle would be the money remaining on his contract – the balance of his $14 million salary this season and another $14 million next season.
Fox Sports
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