Jason Motte, the flame throwing closer for the St. Louis Cardinals is done for the 2013 season and may miss time in 2014 after receiving news that he will need the dreaded procedure known as Tommy John surgery, according to reports.
Motte, who racked up 42 saves last season and posted a 2.75 ERA and 0.92 WHIP will undergo the surgery to repair a tear in his ulnar collateral ligament, which he was trying to rehabilitate through other methods.
Obviously, we were hopeful and thought maybe he could rehab through this, but after throwing today, he just realized it's not getting any better," Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said .
The loss of Motte has hurt St. Louis so far this season; the original reliever tapped to replace Motte, Mitchell Boggs, was optioned to Triple A the same day it was revealed Motte needed surgery. Boggs was clearly not cut out for the ninth inning role, posting a wretched 12.66 ERA and just two saves before ceding the role to Edward Mujica.
Mujica has done well as the Cardinals closer, posting a 2.25 ERA and recording seven saves. The problem is that moving Mujica into the closer stresses the rest of the relief corps, who all need to move up in stature when they may not be suited to it.
Mozeliak said he believes in the remaining pitchers in the St. Louis bullpen, but figuring out the pecking order may take some time. "I still think we have a lot of talent in that bullpen, but clearly, we have to find the right combination that becomes more effective. You don't want to have an inning like we did last night where you have to use three pitchers to get three outs. That's just not efficient."
Upon getting the bad news, Motte took to Twitter, saying, "Thanks everyone #3littlebirds. God has a plan. It all happens for a reason. Guess I just get to hang out with my girls more! #blessed."
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