Cardinals climb into playoff race hits concerning moment with latest injury

While many questioned the move in the offseason for its lack of flare, the St. Louis Cardinals adding veteran right-hander Kyle Gibson to the rotation in free agency this offseason was actually a stroke of genius by John Mozeliak. Many expected him to be an experienced innings eater but he's been far better than that.

Sonny Gray has unquestionably been the ace of the Cardinals staff but Gibson has been better than advertised. In 14 starts this season, the well-seasoned righty has eight Quality Starts to his credit while posting a 3.44 ERA and 1.20 WHIP, giving him a 5-2 record on the season. St. Louis has clearly benefitted from his ability to limit damage and go deeper into games.

And particularly of late, Gibson's success has filtered through the rest of the clubhouse. After it seemed like the club's 2023 trials might simply continue for another season early in the 2024 campaign, the Redbirds have now climbed out of the logjam that is the NL Wild Card race and taken control.

Entering Wednesday's matinee against the Marlins, the Cardinals were the second NL wild card team, a half-game clear of the third spot at 36-36. And to hold that position (or even improve it) Gibson was scheduled to take the bump in Miami.

Then plans changed, which will certainly worry fans.

Kyle Gibson scratched from start as Cardinals push into playoff race

Just before his start, Gibson was scratched due to experiencing back tightness. As such, former top prospect Matthew Liberatore was instead given the ball in the series finale in Miami.

And everyone worried about the immediate returns of that change and the negative effects of not having Gibson on the mound were proven right. The Marlins first four at-bats of the game resulted in a Bryan De La Cruz 429-foot home run, a Jesus Sanchez 417-foot home run, a Josh Bell double and a Jake Burger walk. Not great!

One of the concerns with Gibson certainly has to be his age at 36 years old and seeing something like back tightness, an injury that has plagued many a veteran pitcher over the year and led to some unreliability, is certainly a concern.

The Cardinals are in the midst of a crucial run in terms of what the second half of the year will look like. If they continue to maintain or move further up in the playoff race, St. Louis could absolutely buy at the trade deadline. If not, however, they could instead be sellers.

In that light, fans are absolutely on their knees praying right now that the Gibson injury isn't something that lingers or lands him on the IL. The Cardinals have already been battling a thin rotation with questionable contributions from Andre Pallante. Losing the veteran Gibson would only exacerbate that issue for St. Louis and potentially stop this push to the postseason in its tracks.

We'll have to wait on an update on Gibson beyond this late scratch but the implications of any lingering injury certainly give Cards fans a reason to sound the alarms.