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Adam Wainwright has returned to St. Louis for an MRI on his throwing elbow, tweets MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch.
Take a deep breath, there’s more.
General manager John Mozeliak states, per a second Langosch tweet, that Wainwright’s MRI is not ligament related. Rather, it’s due to discomfort he has felt that is more analogous to tennis elbow. Tennis elbow? Tennis elbow! So no Tommy John! We can step back from our respective ledges—at least for now.
Tennis elbow doesn’t impact the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) that pitchers such as Wainwright in 2011 often have replaced via Tommy John surgery. Per the Mayo Clinic, tennis elbow is a painful condition that results from the tendons in one’s elbow being overworked. (Remember that ligaments like the UCL attach bone to bone while tendons typically attach muscle to bone.) For someone suffering from tennis elbow, the pain emanates from the point in one’s arm where forearm muscles attach to bone near the elbow. This pain can spread from the elbow down to the forearm and even to the wrist in some cases. The prescription? Rest and pain killers.
Now we await the results of Wainwright’s MRI to see whether Mozeliak's analogy to tennis elbow is apt. Depending on what the image shows, Wainwright may be shut down for a spell. The notion of pitching depth might once again be exposed as an illusion.
***UPDATE***
Per ace St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Derrick Goold, the MRI revealed no structural damage and Wainwright received an anti-inflammatory shot in his throwing elbow:
General manager John Mozeliak said an MRI revealed that no damage had been done to the elbow ligament that was replaced when Wainwright underwent Tommy John surgery in 2011.
Mozeliak said that the condition was "similar to tennis elbow" and that the 32-year-old righthander received an anti-inflammatory injection today.
Mozeliak further stated that the club will be cautious with Wainwright.
***2ND UPDATE***
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Matheny said Wainwright could still make next scheduled start. Elbow issue is related to tendinitis, not ligament damage. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23stlcards&src=hash">#stlcards</a></p>— Jenifer Langosch (@LangoschMLB) <a href="https://twitter.com/LangoschMLB/statuses/476837744753131520">June 11, 2014</a></blockquote>
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