Adam Wainwright getting second opinion on injured elbow

It’s a near certainty at this point that Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright is going to require Tommy John reconstructive surgery on his injured right elbow, but an official decision might not come for at least another 24 hours.

According to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Wainwright has requested that MRI results taken Wednesday in St. Louis be shipped out to Dr. Lewis Yocum in Los Angeles for a second opinion. Yocum will review those results on Thursday and then recommend a course of action.

Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said Wednesday evening that his initial read on Wainwright’s injury has not changed. Mozeliak was the first to break the news to the media on Wednesday morning and also the first to mention the words “Tommy John.”

“Ninety-nine times out of 100 a player would seek a second opinion on this,” Mozeliak said Wednesday night. “At this point, Adam would like to seek a second opinion, so before we make any conclusions on what was found we’re going to do that at this time.”

Wainwright finished second in last year’s National League Cy Young Award vote after posting a 20-11 record, 2.42 ERA and 213 strikeouts across 230.1 innings. He meant 6.1 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) to the Cardinals and will be sorely missed no matter who steps in to take his place.