Will #Cardinals have Wainwright ready to face the Giants?

Adam Wainwright/
Baseball-Reference

The Cardinals were first worried about whether or not Adam Wainwright would be OK to pitch a possible Game 5 against the Dodgers in the Division Series.

Well, they solved that by winning in 4.

But, they're still worried about him, whether or not he'll be ready for Game 1 of the LCS against the Giants.

They do have options, though.

If they find him struggling during the game, I think the best option would be to bring Michael Wacha in for some longer relief and have Lance Lynn start Game 2 as needed, rather than have him come in for long relief.

Or, they can flip their rotation, let Lynn do Game 1 and Waino Game 2, while still having Wacha ready to come in late.

Or, they could even bring John Lackey up in the order, too, and push Waino back to Game 3. I do not like the idea of "burning" Lynn in relief, though.

Please, Mike Matheny, don't make Don Mattingly decisions even before the series starts! And, we've got three days until Game 1 anyway, so, let's not get too panicky about this yet.

(Update, Oct. 9: Matheny says he looks fine.)