St. Louis Cardinals: Lance Lynn may not be on innings limit

With Chris Carpenter expected to return to the St. Louis Cardinals sometime after the All-Star break from a serious shoulder injury, his more-than-a-half-a-season-long replacement in the rotation, Lance Lynn, may not be placed on an innings limit.

In this piece, St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said, “We haven’t put the long-term game plan together yet. We have to maximize the here and now. We’ve talked about how (we could) make adjustments. Our GM was running after Oswalt. That was something that he was seriously trying to make happen. There has been a lot of moving parts to what could happen. We’re not being blind to the fact that it’s considerably different to what he’s done in the past.”

The Cardinals will not move Lynn into the bullpen, after pitching in 109.2 innings in the Majors and in Triple-A last season and 68.1 this season. At this rate, he is on pace to eclipse 200 innings and would get to nearly 160 if given 25 starts. He has a 3.16 FIP after posting a 2.88 FIP in just 34.2 Major League innings last season, and Lance Lynn has looked the part in the Cardinals rotation.

In other news concerning the team, offseason acquisition Scott Linebrink was scheduled to throw a bullpen session yesterday. He is still weeks away from returning, and his absence has definitely hurt the Cardinals shaky pen that currently lacks stability due to a few key injuries. Linebrink was expected to take the mound in some high-leverage situations as well. The good news is that, if there are no setbacks, Linebrink could join the team before the All-Star break due to recent progress.

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