Arch Authority
Fansided

Jordan Walden to Miss Start of Season

By Chris Olszewski

Mar 21, 2016; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Jordan Walden (53) delivers a pitch against the Boston Red Sox during the game at Roger Dean Stadium. The Red Sox defeated the Cardinals 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 21, 2016; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Jordan Walden (53) delivers a pitch against the Boston Red Sox during the game at Roger Dean Stadium. The Red Sox defeated the Cardinals 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports /
twitterfacebookreddit

Jordan Walden will miss start after feeling soreness in his shoulder.

Despite off-season progress, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Jordan Walden will not make the Cardinals 25-man roster to start the season after feeling soreness in his troublesome right shoulder, the same one that kept him off the field for most of last season. Walden injured his rotator cuff in 2015, and did not have surgery to repair it, instead opting to rehab it naturally.

Walden was in the midst of his eighth scoreless outing this spring when he felt pain in his shoulder after throwing a slider against the Miami Marlins. Goold notes that Walden was able to hit as high as 95 MPH on the radar gun and could put his slider where he wanted it, but all of that is for nothing if Walden’s shoulder is still a problem.

More from St. Louis Cardinals

Walden will not be joining the team in Tampa for the spring finale against the New York Yankees, and instead will be seeing doctors about his re-injured shoulder. His immediate replacement on the 25-man roster is likely to be Rule 5 pick Matt Bowman if GM John Mozeliak is to be believed. As a Rule 5 pick, Bowman must be on the 25-man roster for the entirety of the 2016 season or placed on waivers. If he is not selected while on waivers, he must be offered back to the New York Mets, his former team.

Next: SLU Hires Travis Ford

Walden has been a troublesome player for some time. His delivery, in which he practically leaps off the mound adds undue stress to his shoulder that he might not feel otherwise. It remains to be seen whether or not Walden will have surgery or change his mechanics in the face of renewed injury, but what is clear is that Walden will not be joining the Cardinals in either Tampa or St. Louis as they begin the season.

Home/St. Louis Cardinals