ST. LOUIS (AP) - Cardinals pitcher Jaime Garcia will be shut down for a month due to an injury the team is calling a left shoulder strain and could be sidelined as long as two months.
It's the latest big hit for a World Series championship team ravaged by injuries.
Two doctors have recommended rehab rather than surgery and the left-hander is scheduled to meet with Dr. James Andrews on Monday, an off day for the team.
Garcia was placed on the 15-day disabled list Thursday and visited Dr. Lewis Yocum on Friday in Los Angeles. Yocum agreed with the diagnosis of Cardinals team physician Dr. George Paletta, that Garcia has some tearing in the labrum and rotator cuff.
"They truly believe the rehab's going to help, and that's what's in my head now," Garcia said Saturday. "I'm not thinking about surgery. There's nothing else I'm going to be thinking about."
Garcia is the second member of the rotation to be sidelined. Chris Carpenter, who won a game in each playoff round last fall, has yet to pitch and is probably at least a month away. Lance Berkman has played just 13 games due to injuries. Allen Craig, Jon Jay, Skip Schumaker and Kyle McClellan have missed considerable time for St. Louis, which had lost seven of 10 entering Saturday night's interleague game against the Indians.
General manager John Mozeliak was pessimistic after a 6-2 loss to Cleveland on Friday night.
"Literally, we don't have the capacity to maintain a winning club throughout the year as we are today, as we're constituted," Mozeliak said. "Now, when you have seven or eight guys on the DL and you think there's a chance of getting four or five of them back, where they're going to contribute at some point, then the answer becomes when?"
The 25-year-old Garcia was a 13-game winner each of his first two seasons, but hasn't felt right from the start of 2012, losing some speed on his fastball and struggling to find the proper arm slot. He lasted just two innings in his last start and is 3-4 with a 4.48 ERA.
"There's so many uncertainties with Jaime," manager Mike Matheny said. "For him to maybe have a break and come back better than ever, is something I see as a positive."
In many of his early starts, Garcia thought perhaps he had a "dead arm" from last season when he worked a career high 194 2-3 innings and then made five starts in the postseason. So he tried to work through it.
Matheny hadn't noticed any problems with the left-hander, who had a season-best nine strikeouts in 7 1-3 innings at San Francisco on May 16 and then worked seven solid innings in a win at home over the Padres. But Garcia knew he was winning with less than his best, estimating he pitched at 50-60 percent effectiveness at times.
"It's not so much the results," Garcia said. "I know myself and I know I was only going to be hurting the team."
Before consulting doctors, Garcia had been somewhat concerned the problem was mental. Team trainers had been unable to pinpoint a hot spot.
"To be honest, it's a little relief that it wasn't all in my head, that I was never going to be the same guy I used to be," Garcia said. "That it's something we can work on and fix, yeah, it's a little relief.
"Now we make it better and go back out there."
Right-hander Joe Kelly will make his major league debut Sunday against the Indians, taking Garcia's spot in the rotation. The 24-year-old Kelly was 2-5 with a 2.86 ERA at Triple A-Memphis.
NOTES: Matheny shook up the lineup a bit, batting Yadier Molina third for the first time in his career. Molina had been 5 for 10 on the homestand and was batting .337 with eight homers and 32 RBIs and a .388 on-base percentage. "I'd say he's our best hitter right now," Matheny said. "I've been thinking about it for a while." ... The Cardinals claimed LHP John Gaub on waivers from Texas and assigned him to Triple-A Memphis. They've had one lefty in the bullpen, Marc Rzepczynski, much of the year. The 27-year-old Gaub was designated for assignment Thursday.