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| Date | News |
| 9/05/10 | Though Kyle Lohse will get the ball on Tuesday in Milwaukee, that's all that's guaranteed to the St. Louis right-hander for the time being.
Lohse will start after essentially skipping a turn in the rotation, pitching on nine days' rest after a rough outing in Washington on Aug. 28. Jeff Suppan started on Sept. 1, the final day of the Cardinals' most recent road trip, and now Suppan doesn't have another start scheduled.
Four Cards starters are set: Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, Jaime Garcia and Jake Westbrook. But with the club playing every day until the end of the season, it will need a fifth starter on every fifth day. Lohse gets Tuesday's game, and then it's not a certainty who pitches five days later in Atlanta.
"Kyle gets the ball Tuesday because I think there's an anticipation he's got the best chance to get us a [win]," manager Tony La Russa said Sunday. "And then that spot comes again [next] Sunday. So it's an opportunity for him to justify the confidence."
| | 8/29/10 | Kyle Lohse suspected it on Saturday night, and manager Tony La Russa confirmed it on Sunday afternoon: Lohse's spot in the Cardinals' rotation is not guaranteed over the season's final five weeks.
Lohse struggled in his third start back after undergoing forearm surgery, and has turned in one good start in those three games. With Jeff Suppan returning from the disabled list Wednesday, the team has an alternative to Lohse. And as a tight National League Central race draws to a close, the Redbirds don't have the luxury of patience with a rehabbing pitcher. Lohse certainly isn't out yet. But he also isn't totally in, either.
"We're in a competitive situation," La Russa said Sunday. "We're running out of games every time we take the field from here to the end. There's a decision there. The decision goes, who gives you the best chance to win? Is it Supp? Is it Lohse? I don't think it's [Blake] Hawksworth. Is there anybody in the Minor Leagues? So it comes down to Supp and Lohse."
Lohse doesn't currently have a next scheduled start. He won't pitch until at least the Cardinals' next road trip, which begins Sept. 6 in Milwaukee. Jake Westbrook would likely take the first game of that trip, leaving an opening on Tuesday, Sept. 7. Suppan pitches Wednesday in Houston, and could be on turn to take that game. It could also go to Lohse.
"Starting Friday, every five days, somebody's got to pitch in the spot," La Russa said. "We'll make a determination. Supp gets a chance on Wednesday. But I'm excited and I think we're excited that Kyle is healthy. Can he improve his execution to finish a hitter off and finish an inning off? That's the question."
The bulk of Lohse's troubles Saturday came with two outs, something La Russa attributed to the right-hander "over-trying." It's also distinctly possible that it's a matter of still-returning command after surgery. Either way, Lohse knows there's not really a lot of room for patience.
"I'm not going to use it as an excuse, but I've basically been out the last two years and haven't had my stuff until now," Lohse said. "So maybe it's a comfortable-being-out-there issue. I was pounding the strike zone, but just not the good quality strikes. Everything is so close. ... It's so close but not good enough."
| | 8/16/10 | The Cardinals activated right-hander Kyle Lohse from the 60-day disabled list in order to start on Sunday. Lohse had not pitched since May 22, the result of a right forearm injury that had bothered him since early in 2009. | | 8/14/10 | The Cardinals will re-install Kyle Lohse into their rotation on Sunday, and they'll use that addition as well as a series of off-days to give all of their starters some extra rest. Lohse, who has not pitched in the Major Leagues since May, had an excellent start in a rehab outing for Triple-A Memphis on Tuesday. That set him up to pitch on Sunday against the Cubs. | | 8/11/10 | Lohse turned in seven outstanding innings for Triple-A Memphis on Tuesday in his fourth Minor League rehabilitation start. He struck out nine against two walks, allowing one run on three hits. Lohse is recuperating from forearm surgery in May.
Five days after Tuesday would put Lohse on turn to start Sunday at home against the Cubs, and manager Tony La Russa said that that is a possibility. It would also be rookie Jaime Garcia's fifth day, but with Garcia scuffling a bit lately, the Cardinals may choose to give him extra days of rest or even skip him entirely.
"We haven't had a chance to talk about it," La Russa said on Wednesday morning. "But I know Lohse had a really good game yesterday. We really haven't talked about it. The game yesterday was overwhelming, and today, we're trying to get ready for this one. ... Garcia pitched yesterday. [Lohse] pitched yesterday. There's some flexibility there, so we wanted to get all the information."
La Russa did confirm that Chris Carpenter will start Saturday's home game against Chicago, leaving only Sunday's starter undecided for the weekend series.
| | 8/10/10 | Kyle Lohse caught a flight west on Monday, headed to Nevada for a game he thought he wouldn't have to pitch.
Lohse will start on Tuesday for Triple-A Memphis at Reno, his fourth Minor League rehabilitation start as he tries to come back from forearm surgery. Lohse had hoped that his next game would come for the Cardinals on the club's upcoming homestand. Instead, he'll pitch one more time in the Minors.
His last time out, Lohse was reached for five runs on 12 hits in five innings, an outcome that led the Cardinals to alter their plans a bit.
"This is a team in contention," manager Tony La Russa said Monday. "It's the same argument you use all the time on these guys. When you get in there, we can't afford to have guys getting their timing at the plate or on the mound.
"We want Kyle to help us when he gets here. But I know one thing: [pitching coach Dave Duncan] is very excited about how he's throwing the ball. So we're working off a good thing. It's just a matter of time."
If all goes well for Lohse on Tuesday, he could slot in at some point on the Cards' upcoming eight-game homestand, which begins on Friday. | | 8/08/10 | Kyle Lohse is expected to join the Cardinals at Sun Life Stadium on Saturday. Manager Tony La Russa said Friday that Lohse, who has been recovering from forearm surgery he had in late June, likely will need at least one more rehab start in the Minors before pitching again for St. Louis.
La Russa said Lohse "needs more work" in his rehab stint, after allowing five runs and 12 hits in five innings of work Thursday night for Class Double-A Springfield.
| | 8/05/10 | St. Louis pitcher Kyle Lohse(notes) will make what could be his final rehab start on Thursday at Double-A Springfield, Mo. Lohse has been on the disabled list since May 27 with a right forearm strain. | | 8/02/10 | Although Kyle Lohse got tagged for three home runs in a four-inning start Saturday night with Triple-A Memphis, the Cardinals right-hander was satisfied with his performance in his second rehab game.
Lohse threw 61 pitches, didn't walk any and struck out two batters. He estimated 40 went for strikes.
"The arm felt good and it came out feeling as I wanted it to," Lohse said.
"I was looking to throw quality pitches, stay strong throughout the whole outing. I did that."
Lohse did give up two home runs to Royals top prospect Mike Moustakas, but the right-hander wasn't concerned with the results. Lohse said Moustakas second home run came on a low fastball "that was way in off the plate."
"I must have faced the best hitter ever," Lohse joked. | | 7/30/10 | Kyle Lohse pronounced his first Minor League rehabilitation start a success on Tuesday, a day after he lasted three innings for Triple-A Memphis.
Lohse threw 43 pitches, 29 of them strikes, allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits. He struck out three and didn't issue a walk, but mostly he felt good the whole time. The forearm injury that plagued him for a year is gone, he said.
"I need to make sure I'm ready," Lohse said. "I'm not going to rush it, but everything felt good. I felt like I could keep going. It wasn't like I went out and got tired."
It appears that Lohse will make two more rehab starts, with the next one coming on Saturday.
| | 7/26/10 | Kyle Lohse is set to make the first of his rehab assignment starts tonight with Class AAA Memphis. He's pencilled in for two rehab starts before the Cardinals assess if he's ready to rejoin the major-league rotation. | | 7/22/10 | Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse's recovery continued without a hitch Wednesday as the right-hander took part in a simulated game at Busch Stadium.
Having thrown two bullpen sessions over the past four days, Lohse stepped it up Wednesday by throwing to batters Aaron Miles and Jason LaRue. Lohse threw 40 pitches to the hitters after warming up with 40 pitches in the bullpen.
Lohse has been recovering from forearm surgery to repair exertional compartment syndrome and last pitched May 22.
"Felt like I didn't lose much of anything at the end there," Lohse said. "So from a stamina standpoint, that was good. Pitch-wise, I felt real good, too."
Lohse said he would pitch another bullpen Friday, and would "probably" throw a rehab start with one of the Minor League affiliates Monday.
The right-hander was most encouraged with his location and life on his pitches, not worrying about the results against the hitters. With all the other starters surrounding the batting cage while he threw, Lohse said they agreed his stuff looked close to normal.
"They are not going to lie and say it looks good when it doesn't," Lohse said of other starters watching.
| | 7/19/10 | Kyle Lohse continues to preach caution in his return from a right forearm injury, but his aggressive rehabilitation timetable tells an entirely different story.
Lohse threw off a mound on Monday for the second time since he had surgery to repair the injury. He expects his next throw to be on Wednesday, at which time he will face hitters. Lohse believes that it will be less than two weeks before he is pitching in a game on a Minor League rehabilitation assignment. Lohse last pitched for the Cardinals on May 22.
"If I'm facing hitters on Wednesday, if that goes well, then the next step is to try to look at when I could get a rehab start in," Lohse said. "That's down the road. I've still got to make it through the next couple days."
Lohse's first throw was Saturday. After only one day off, he took the mound again on Monday, and was thrilled with the results. He once again threw approximately 50 pitches in the bullpen at Busch Stadium, reporting delight with the movement on both his fastball and his offspeed offerings.
"Today was about as good as it could get," he said. "My stuff was sharper today -- felt really good. Just everything, pretty much cut it loose today and it was all positive. ... I threw about as hard as I would want to. I try not to go back to my old form of trying to throw as hard as I can every pitch. Everything was moving. Sinker had some sink today. Changeup, everything was good."
If Lohse sticks to the timetable, he will almost certainly return to active duty before fellow injured starter Brad Penny, who is still trying to recover from a strained right lat muscle.
"I went into it trying to be as positive as I could and as smart as I could at the same time," Lohse said. "Not trying to overdo it with the rehab work. But I think in my mind, I'm pretty close to where I want to be. Today was a great day. I didn't expect to get on a mound and be as sharp as I have been. I'm just trying to keep that rolling." | | 7/17/10 | Cardinals pitcher Kyle Lohse threw off the mound Saturday for the first time since the end of May and came back pleased with the bullpen performance.
Lohse threw 50 pitches over a span of about 20 minutes, mixing in both fastballs and curveballs.
"It felt awesome to get up there and just let it go," Lohse said.
"Everything felt like it came out really good, threw some good pitches. I am just excited that today went good."
The right-hander had surgery on May 28 to release pressure on his forearm caused from exertional compartment syndrome, an extremely rare baseball injury more often found in long-distance runners.
Because no muscles were affected by the surgery, however, Lohse is optimistic he won't experience setbacks like fellow disabled-list pitcher Brad Penny has with a strained lat injury.
| | 7/16/10 | Mozeliak also said pitcher Kyle Lohse is scheduled to throw his first bullpen session Saturday since being sidelined with exertional compartment syndrome in his pitching arm in May.
| | 7/03/10 | St. Louis also could get pitcher Brad Penny(notes) (upper back) back after the break, although their other injured starter, Kyle Lohse(notes) (forearm surgery), is at least a month away. | | 6/29/10 | Cardinals RHP Brad Penny(notes) (back) threw his first bullpen session Monday. RHP Kyle Lohse(notes) (forearm) played catch for the first time since surgery in late May. “To finally get to officially out there and toss a baseball, it’s a good feeling,” he said | | 6/21/10 | Injured Cardinals pitcher Kyle Lohse will not begin throwing this week, but the right-hander said on Sunday that he's very pleased with his rehabilitation from right forearm surgery.
"I'm excited about where it's going and ready to hit the next stage, but we've just got to wait till I get the full blessing of everybody to go ahead," Lohse said. "I think once I start throwing, it will start speeding up."
Lohse had hoped to begin a throwing program Monday. He said that will not happen but asserted that he has not had a setback and, in fact, is progressing well.
"I thought at the beginning of this week that I was headed toward throwing on Monday, but all the doctors got together and just wanted to give it a little more chance to heal," he said. "The reason they gave was that originally they were just going to [operate on] the one muscle that showed up in the MRI, but just to make sure there wasn't any further problem, they did all the muscles. So they just want to make sure, because [the surgery] was a bit more intrusive.
"They want to make sure they give it a little more time to heal, because in their eyes, the worst thing I could do at this point is to go out and try to start throwing when you're still trying to strengthen. I feel like the strength is really good. I've got my full range of motion back now. It's just a matter of, there's still some bruising in there."
Lohse declined to say when he expects to begin throwing, but he did not give the impression that the date is far off. He has a full range of motion with his right wrist and said his strength is well on its way.
"You can't get completely strong until it's fully healed, which I think it's pretty much there," he said. "But to take a couple extra days here, hopefully it balances out that when I start throwing I won't have any setbacks." | | 6/06/10 | Lohse had a soft cast removed from his surgically repaired forearm Friday, although the arm is still wrapped until stitches dissolve, and expects it’ll be another week until there’s a better idea of a timetable for his rehab. | | 6/01/10 | Lohse believes a return timetable of approximately two months is reasonable, but the schedule is ultimately murky.
"I don't know if anyone really knows anything," he said. "The doctor said 6-8 weeks, because no one has ever had it. I have heard other people talking about 12. I think that is a little bit much, considering we didn't do anything to the muscle, it's just the fascia. They did end up doing a little bit more than I originally thought, so I got a nice scar." | | 5/31/10 | Kyle Lohse underwent surgery on his right forearm in California on Friday, the Cardinals announced.
Dr. Steven Shin, the same surgeon who performed Brendan Ryan's late-offseason wrist surgery, operated on Lohse. The right-hander has been bothered by lingering discomfort in his forearm for nearly a year, since first injuring himself when he was hit by a pitch in May 2009.
The procedure, called fascial release surgery, is an unusual one for a baseball player. The Cardinals did not announce any timetable for Lohse's return to baseball, but according to a statement from the club, he will begin physical therapy in about one week.
"This is supposed to be a new and different kind of deal, but I was told with the length of time we're dealing with, it should be before August," manager Tony La Russa said. | | 5/31/10 | Cardinals RHP Kyle Lohse(notes) had fascial release surgery on his right forearm in Los Angeles. Lohse was being treated for exertional compartment syndrome, an uncommon, exercise-induced neuromuscular condition that causes pain and swelling in legs or arms and can be difficult to identify. He will begin physical therapy in a week. A timetable for his return has not been set. | | 5/28/10 | St. Louis placed RHP Kyle Lohse(notes) on the DL with exertional compartment syndrome in his right forearm. It’s an exercise-induced neuromuscular condition that causes pain and swelling in legs or arms and can be difficult to identify. Lohse is scheduled to have surgery on Friday | | 5/27/10 | If Lohse eventually decides to undergo surgery, he is likely to miss at least two months and could reasonably be out for the rest of the season, according to the report. The Cardinals and Shin are in the process of searching for an American surgeon who is familiar with the procedure that would correct the condition. | | 5/27/10 | Cardinals pitcher Kyle Lohse, who has been experiencing forearm pain, has been diagnosed with an uncommon condition that will force either surgery or a significant role change, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on Thursday.
Lohse met on Wednesday with Dr. Steven S. Shin, an Anaheim, Calif., hand and wrist specialist, according to the Post-Dispatch. The diagnosis was an "extreme" form of compartment syndrome, a condition in which sheath covering a muscle in Lohse's right forearm has prevented the muscle from expanding.
The Cardinals haven't made any official announcement about Lohse's condition or his roster spot, but they could do so on Thursday. Lohse had been scheduled to pitch on Saturday at Chicago.
| | 5/26/10 | Kyle Lohse continues to look for answers to the source of his forearm inflammation, and after an MRI on Monday revealed no structural damage, Lohse will undergo further testing by specialists on Wednesday to determine the next steps in the right-hander's recovery.
The inflammation is a recurrence of an issue Lohse experienced last season as well, and no timetable has been set for his return, according to a club statement.
Lohse called the situation "frustrating" and vowed to do "whatever they need me to do" to proceed with the evaluation. The assumption is that Lohse will miss his next scheduled start on Saturday at Wrigley Field.
| | 5/24/10 | An MRI exam on Monday determined that Lohse has "no evidence of structural damage" in his troublesome right forearm, but some "post-exercise inflammation," according to a release from the Cardinals. In the release, the club stated that "no timetable" has been set for Lohse to return to action. | | 5/24/10 | Lohse revealed after the game that he experienced a recurrence of the forearm discomfort that derailed his '09 season.
"[It's the] same sensation I was feeling last year," Lohse said. "It's frustrating, because I'll throw a pitch and it will feel OK, and then the next one, it's like a cramping sensation. We've got to try to get a better idea what's going on, because we can't let it get to the point where it was last year."
Lohse will undergo an MRI exam on Monday, after which he and the club will have a clearer view of their course of action going forward. In the meantime, it's obvious that it's not good for the club, especially coming on the same day that Brad Penny was placed on the disabled list due to a strained right lat muscle.
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Kyle Lohse