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ST. LOUIS -- Jim Edmonds, who started the season for the St.
Louis Cardinals at less than full strength following two offseason
operations, is getting a couple of weeks now to finally get his
body healed. The Cardinals are hoping a similar break will be productive for
Braden Looper, a starting pitcher for the first time in his career
and now hampered by a shoulder strain. Both players were placed on
the 15-day disabled list on Monday, hours before a game against the
Kansas City Royals. Edmonds' injury was diagnosed as a pinched nerve in his lower
back. He said the problems extend to the high hamstring area and
after not being in the lineup Saturday and Sunday he approached the
team, joking at first that he was not hurt. "I've been playing hurt since opening day," Edmonds said.
"Some days I was feeling decent. Some days, I was feeling really
bad. Some of the days that were my worst were days you would never
even know." Edmonds underwent surgery to correct a hammer toe condition on
his left foot, in addition to a cleanup procedure on his right
shoulder. He's been hampered, especially running the bases and on
defense, after perhaps accelerating his schedule in spring training
in order to get ready for opening day. "You can see sometimes when he tracks the ball and sometimes
running the bases," manager Tony La Russa said. "It really isn't
improving, so we just decided to give him a couple of weeks and
just try to get him healthy rather than have this thing
lingering." Edmonds is batting .238 with seven home runs and 24 RBIs in 56
games. He was placed on the DL retroactive to June 16 after sitting
the past two games. "Basically, I went to them and said if I wasn't going to play
every day like I haven't been, I might need to get this taken care
of," Edmonds said. "I thought maybe now would be the time to try
to get it healthy and take advantage of some of the days I've had
off and some of the lefties coming up and the All-Star break, if
need be." Looper complained of shoulder stiffness after his last start on
Friday. The right-hander, who entered the year with 572 career
relief appearances and zero starts, is 6-6 with a 4.66 ERA in 14
appearances over 83 innings, nearly 10 more than he threw all last
season. Those two join pitchers Chris Carpenter (elbow) and Mark Mulder
(shoulder), shortstop David Eckstein (back) and catcher Yadier
Molina (broken wrist) on the DL. Looper's injury is a reprieve for Kip Wells, 2-11 with a 6.93
ERA, but who stays in the rotation for now. Wells is scheduled to
start Tuesday against the Royals. Brad Thompson, who threw two
innings of relief on Saturday, will pitch on Wednesday. The Cardinals recalled outfielder Skip Schumaker and left-handed
reliever Troy Cate from Triple-A Memphis, both making their second
stint with the team this season. Schumaker is batting .314 with
five homers and 14 RBIs in 30 games at Memphis, and Cate is 1-5
with a 5.40 ERA. Cate appeared in three games at Memphis after being optioned
June 3, including two starts, and lost both of them. La Russa said
Cate will be used in relief.
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