Cardinals Jaime Garcia Will Have Shoulder Surgery

The St. Louis Cardinals placed starting pitcher Jaime Garcia on the 15-day disabled list four days ago with a left shoulder strain, and it always seemed like Garcia was expected to undergo undergo surgery. Garcia saw the famous Dr. James Andrews yesterday for a second opinion, and it sounds like that opinion has led to the Cardinals and Garcia choosing the surgery route. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported the news that Jaime Garcia will need left shoulder surgery, and Heyman and others will surely be adding new details to the story shortly.

It will be interesting to see how the Cardinals fill the loss of Garcia going forward, because Tyler Lyons doesn’t sound like the true option for the Cards. The Cards could call up Michael Wacha, or they could bring back Chris Carpenter into the fold for the season. I fully expect Garcia to be out for the season due to the shoulder surgery, and it’s certainly devastating news for the Cardinals. We’ll see exactly what one of baseball’s smartest front offices does to fill the void of Garcia, and they can go in several different directions- veteran signing, prospect, or even just a stopgap guy within the organization.

The further details we will be hearing on the Cardinals SP will tell us whether or not Garcia has a chance at returning later in the season, as well as what kind of shoulder surgery he will undergo. The 26-year-old southpaw has a 3.58 ERA this season.

Update: Heyman reports that Garcia was diagnosed with a 30-40% tear of his labrum in that left shoulder and was indeed recommended by Andrews to have surgery. Heyman adds the interesting layer that Andrews was impressed with the way Garcia pitched during that time frame.