Lance Lynn may start Game 5
The St. Louis Cardinals still have ace right-hander Adam Wainwright scheduled to pitch in a potential Game Five of their National League Divisional Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but will have starter Lance Lynn ready to start that game or even potentially Game One of the NLCS in case Wainwright isn’t ready to go.
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Wainwright has dealt with soreness in his right elbow for most of the second half of the season, and struggled to have command of his fastball in Game One of the ALDS in Los Angeles. Both St. Louis manager Mike Matheny and general manager John Mozeliak repeated that they expected Wainwright to make the start, but they were simply having Lynn prepared in case he can’t pitch.
“There’s no question that [Wainwright] has been fighting [soreness],” Matheny told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I haven’t made that a secret and neither has he. It’s all going to come down to how he feels. The likelihood of him saying, ‘I can’t go,’ is very slim. But it is a possibility that something might not feel right.”
While Wainwright is still the Cardinals ace, Lynn has had a great season himself. Lynn had a 2.74 ERA in 203 regular-season innings, striking out 181 hitters. It sounds like Matheny will make a game-time decision on Wainwright’s availability.
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