Yahoo Sports 
Adam Wainwright undergoes surgery on his right elbow
It's not Tommy John. It's not supposed to affect his offseason routine, and won't impact his preparation for the 2015 season, the St. Louis Cardinals say.
Regardless, the club confirmed Friday that ace right-hander Adam Wainwright has undergone surgery to "trim cartilage" in his right elbow. Wainwright and club general manager John Mozeliak had been saying that surgery was not on the horizon — as recently as Monday — but the pitcher sought a second medical opinion earlier this week and had a surgical procedure done Friday.
Wainwright has said he's felt periodic discomfort in his elbow going back to June, and it's likely to have affected his performance from time to time — even though Wainwright never used it as an excuse.
Reporter Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch was told initially that Wainwright had undergone surgery on an elbow ligament — which, whoa — but it's not that.
Wainwright had ligament replacement surgery in 2011, and the rate of such operations has surged in recent seasons, which leads to more worry about the elbow.
From the P-D:
The pitcher should be ready to resuming a throwing program in six weeks. That would give Wainwright plenty of time to get ready for spring training, and the right-hander was already expected to have a reduced schedule coming into spring training to save mileage on his arm.
Earlier this week, Mozeliak said that Wainwright had an MRI on the irritated joint and went through a battery of tests a week ago. The results of those exams, the Cardinals said, resulted in a diagnosis that no surgical procedure was necessary to alleviate his discomfort. Rest was prescribed.
Part of the reason for the Cardinals giving conflicting information to the media is, probably, Wainwright being in denial about how hurt he really is — though he might say it's because the media tends to blow stuff out of proportion. Regardless, that's why the press will write one thing about a player not having surgery and then something contradictory will happen. That's also how stuff gets blown out of proportion, because the team isn't being straight with reporters.
So remember this when you read sentences such as:
Mozeliak said the surgery would have no impact on Wainwright's 2015 season.
After being a top starter during the regular season, Wainwright's postseason results in 2014 were a mixed bag. He had a horrendous outing in the division series round against the Dodgers, and couldn't get out of the fifth inning against the Giants in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series. He bounced back and pitched well in Game 5, though the Cards were eliminated.
Hopefully, his surgery leads to 30-something pain-free starts in 2015.
More MLB coverage at Yahoo Sports:
- - - - - - -
David Brown is an editor for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rdbrown@yahoo-inc.com and follow him on Twitter!
