蜜芽传媒

CHICAGO 鈥� From the Cardinals dugout, all Miles Mikolas initially saw was the Milwaukee Brewers鈥� trainer and manager rushing to the mound Thursday evening to check on the club鈥檚 prized rookie pitcher, who throws sizzling 102 mph fastballs and was in the midst of a no-hitter.

Mikolas鈥� first thought: not another one.

鈥淕osh, don鈥檛 be hurt,鈥� Mikolas said. 鈥淏ig, tall, skinny kid who throws 102. I just hate seeing guys being hurt.鈥�

What Mikolas missed was Jacob Misiorowski rolling his ankle 鈥� not wincing or flexing his arm 鈥� as he returned up the mound in the sixth inning Thursday night at American Family Field. Misiorowski left his debut, experienced some swelling and was fine by the weekend. But Mikolas鈥� reaction, which he shared the next day, speaks to how prominent and proliferating injuries are for pitchers. A visit from the trainer and the default response is uh-oh.

There are more than 40 pitchers on major league injured lists due to elbow reconstruction surgeries, 17 of them since the start of spring training. The Los Angeles Dodgers have 14 pitchers on the IL as of Flag Day, and five other teams had at least eight, according to FanGraphs鈥� tracker. The Cardinals have one, none from their major league staff.

The spike in pitching injuries prompted Major League Baseball to issue a study this past winter on possible reasons 鈥� though it did little to offer concrete solutions. All of that offers perspective for how the Cardinals have meticulously plotted their pitchers鈥� schedules, scripted rest and use, and utilized a sixth starter to proactively avoid what stresses they can and prioritize health.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not like we鈥檙e just playing it safe,鈥� pitching coach Dusty Blake said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a plan. We鈥檙e trying to be as smart as we can with the timeline and the workload and use the information that we know is reliable. It doesn鈥檛 matter how good you are if you can鈥檛 pitch. If you can throw 105 mph and have the best curveball in the league, but if you鈥檙e hurt you can鈥檛 help us if you鈥檙e not on the mound. How do we use guys to win games and then how do we make sure we鈥檙e doing it to keep them in the position to stay on the mound?鈥�

The returns, thus far, have been encouraging health-wise as the Cardinals visit the Chicago White Sox, who have nine pitchers on the IL, and continue a challenging stretch of a schedule they prepared months for.

The Cardinals left spring training for the first time in many years without an injury to a pitcher they expected on their opening day roster. They are one of two teams in the majors with only one pitcher on the big league IL. Class AAA starter Zack Thompson is recovering from a shoulder injury sustained in spring. The other team is the Phillies with starter Aaron Nola on the IL with an ankle injury.

The Cardinals are one of only four teams this season to get at least 13 starts from five different pitchers. They were one of five last season to get five starters with at least 20 starts.

Since opening day 2024, even with No. 1 starter Sonny Gray out with a hamstring injury to start that year, the Cardinals have had their seven leading starters make 86% of the starts. The rotation has avoided long absences and lengthy stays on IL due to arm ailments.

Even the mention of such numbers in an article like this can cause a grimace because injuries in the game are so inevitable, so expected, so around-the-next-corner that teams know it takes more than planning to defy probability.

鈥淟et鈥檚 not say this is just scheduling; you need to get lucky, too,鈥� manager Oliver Marmol said this past weekend. 鈥淵ou can plan as much as you want and you have zero control of guys getting hurt. There is a combination of both of those things. You鈥檙e trying to put them in the best position to stay healthy. But you also need to get lucky for both to happen.鈥�

The Cardinals鈥� approach ranges from the macro level of individual pitcher鈥檚 schedules to the micro of the pitches thrown in games.

Two pitchers made the point that it may help that the staff, specially the contact-oriented rotation, has several veteran pitchers who don't rely on velocity and no high-octane pitchers.

Twice this season, the Cardinals upshifted to a six-man rotation and used Steven Matz to buy an additional day of rest for the other five starters, and once they had rookie Michael McGreevy make a spot start to avoid the rotation returning on four days of rest. The Cardinals are considering a sixth starter such as McGreevy on June 24 against the Cubs to assure a similar break for the rotation.

Other examples of schedules adjusted for workload include last season when relievers JoJo Romero, Andrew Kittredge, and Ryan Fernandez had entire series off to rest or work on the side. Their break wasn鈥檛 advertised due to strategy, but the players later confirmed them. Blake said even between-start bullpens will be modified or limited if the pitcher is coming off a long outing or 鈥� and the pitching coach reached for an outlier example 鈥� poor sleep. Blake said it鈥檚 important to 鈥渁udible鈥� when necessary and encourage the pitchers to 鈥渓isten to what their body says.鈥�

It鈥檚 not always a measure of how much 鈥� pitches, innings 鈥� but when and how often.

This year, there have been pitching moves made by Marmol that seem early but are motivated by reducing innings or pitches heaped on starters when there鈥檚 opportunity.

鈥淚 see all the different moving parts,鈥� Mikolas said. 鈥淐oming out in the fifth with the top of the lineup coming up and maybe it鈥檚 a bunch of lefties and (John) King comes in. I understand we鈥檙e trying to win ballgames, and I understand we鈥檙e trying to keep guys healthy. When we鈥檙e playing well and making a playoff run, you want your starters healthy. Or whether things go the other way, you want guys you can trade to be healthy. I see it from every conceivable angle. You don鈥檛 need an ulterior motive to keep guys healthy. We like that.鈥�

There are driving reasons beyond the universally approved fondness for health that are baseball- and roster-related for the Cardinals.

One is a concern.

The other is a purpose.

A concern coming into the year was their depth beyond the big league rotation. They expect McGreevy to be in the rotation several times this year, but after him, injuries and performance thin the options. A heavy emphasis was placed then on doing whatever they could to keep the rotation intact and avoid a sinkhole of innings. The purpose is to provide ample opportunities for young players, such as starter Andre Pallante and Matthew Liberatore, to establish themselves during this 鈥渞unway鈥� season as part of the team鈥檚 future.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e also doing it because you need to find out (and) we鈥檙e trying to find out about guys,鈥� Marmol said. 鈥淕etting to the end of this year and not knowing what Pallante or Libby and some of the other guys are is a failure. We have to stay true to that as well. We have to stay true to that regardless of how many games we鈥檙e winning.鈥�

The Cardinals spent their last day off in June in Chicago on Monday, and they reach the interleague series against the South Side Sox having lost nine of their 13 games in 13 days. They are, however, healthier. Brendan Donovan (toe), Jordan Walker (wrist) and Lars Nootbaar (a breather from his slump) are all expected in the lineup Tuesday for the first time this month.

Navigating the pitching staff into and through this stretch began the moment last season ended, if not before.

As pitching coach, Blake puts a heavy emphasis on the 鈥渞amp up.鈥� That is, the preparation for a season from November till the opener. In MLB鈥檚 study of pitching injuries and clubs鈥� research into the trends, a significant percentage of them came in April. Blake has prioritized easing starters into the season through spring and through April with an eye on avoiding rapid increases in workload or decreases in rest. Blake, Marmol, and the coaching staff reverse-engineered the schedule to identify stress points and then prepare options, all while setting the rotation accordingly.

鈥淭he ramp-up is still the most important part of these things,鈥� Blake said during a discussion in December about injuries and training schedules. 鈥淚f you can nail that part of it your risk is lower.鈥�

Asked for an update on that this past week, Blake said: 鈥淭o be great in April and May, you have to be great in November, honestly. If we had guys trying to ramp-up in mid- or late-January, a six-man would probably still be a challenge.鈥�

The scheduling and usage has not limited the innings the Cardinals are getting overall from the staff. The Cardinals鈥� starters have thrown the fifth-most innings of any rotation in the majors, at 395 2/3 innings. The bullpen has the eighth-fewest innings, at 242. The rotation has been decidedly average with its ERA: 4.07 to MLB鈥檚 average 4.02.

This past weekend, Marmol was asked if the Cardinals put the scale of proactive health decisions, how do they measure it鈥檚 working, what do they look toward.

The IL is an obvious measurement.

Does pitcher performance show any benefit?

鈥淭he key at the end of the day is good performance,鈥� Marmol replied. 鈥淵ou can be healthy and (stink). But when you look at how we give ourselves the best chance at being successful it鈥檚 by having the guys who are here staying here and not tapping into our depth any earlier than we need to. You鈥檙e trying to maximize who you have and then keep them healthy for as long as possible.鈥�