Shoulder strain ends season for Cardinals’ Martinez

Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez will miss the rest of the season due to a right shoulder strain, Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak announced Saturday before the Cardinals hosted the Brewers at Busch Stadium.

“Unfortunately, it does show a shoulder strain, and at this point, given where we are in the season, we will shut him down for the remainder of it,” Mozeliak said. “That would include depending on how far we went in the postseason as well.”

An MRI on Saturday morning confirmed the news.

Reliever Tyler Lyons is expected to join the rotation, according to Cardinals manager Mike Matheny.

Martinez is not expected to require surgery.

“The good news is on this is that there is no surgery intervention,” Mozeliak said. “It’s really just about rest. If this happened, say August 1, he probably would pitch again, but unfortunately, where we are on the calendar, it’s just not going to work out.”

“It’s probably anywhere from like four to eight (weeks recovery), and the fact that we would still have to get him throwing, it’s not practical,” Mozeliak said of Martinez’s recovery. “Our medical staff believes he will be ready to go and fully recovered by spring training. I think that’s really the way you have to look at this.”

Martinez, 24, threw just seven pitches against the Brewers before leaving Friday night’s start with what was announced as shoulder tightness.

Martinez (14-7) had made a strong case to become one of the Cardinals’ postseason starters. He had posted a 3.01 ERA through 29 starts. The 1792/3 innings he pitched this season marked a steep increase from the 992/3 innings he totaled in the majors and minors last season. Mozeliak was asked if the increase in this season’s workload might have attributed to the injury.

“Anytime you have an acute injury, you could argue the side of usage and fatigue, but in the end, I don’t think we will never know the answer to that,” Mozeliak said. “Ultimately, I think what’s in his best interest is to shut him down and let him recover.”

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