:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47272714/GettyImages-490058434.0.jpg)
Carlos Martinez left his Friday night start against the Milwaukee Brewers in the top of the first inning after having faced two batters. The initial assessment, as relayed by the St. Louis Cardinals' Twitter account, was that Martinez was suffering from shoulder tightness. After the game, manager Mike Matheny announced that Martinez would undergo an MRI on Saturday. On Saturday afternoon, general manager John Mozeliak announced that Martinez's 2015 season is over:
"Carlos Martinez suffered a shoulder strain and will be shut down for the remainder of the season." -John Mozeliak pic.twitter.com/OCqTe4vzUj
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) September 26, 2015
Chris Hrbabe of KMOX shared additional Mozeliak quotes:
Mo: "If this happened 8/1, he probably would pitch again. But unfortunately, where we are on the calendar, it's just not going to work out."
— Chris Hrabe (@chrabe) September 26, 2015
"He wants to compete & didn't feel that bad. I did speak to his agent to let him know this more about his career than simply 2015 season."
— Chris Hrabe (@chrabe) September 26, 2015
Obviously, the immediate impact is negative for the Cardinals. They are down perhaps their best starting pitcher for the home stretch of the Central race. And Martinez will miss the postseason. But the news regarding Martinez's shoulder tightness could have been much, much worse. Right now, it appears as if it is not serious enough to hamper Martinez in 2016. That's a shiny silver lining.