St. Louis’ offense bailed him out yesterday, but Jake Westbrook turned in another poor outing by failing to make it out of the fifth inning against Milwaukee.
Westbrook now has a 5.97 ERA in 13 games since returning from a disabled list stint for elbow problems, including allowing 26 runs in 21 innings this month. And if anything Westbrook’s secondary numbers are even uglier than his 5.97 ERA since the DL stint, as he’s managed just 24 strikeouts compared to 30 walks in 75 innings.
For a team fighting to win the NL Central and avoid the one-game Wild Card coin flip how much longer can the Cardinals afford to trot Westbrook out to the mound every fifth day? Carlos Martinez is untested in the majors, especially as a starter, but he has a whole lot more upside and couldn’t be much worse if he tried.
