Chris Carpenter Is Rehabbing

With the Cubs, Brewers, and Phillies, all teams that the Cardinals may be competing with for a playoff spot, adding arms for a stretch run, the Cardinals are suddenly losing theoretical ground in the standings, even if their records says they're keeping pace. It's possible that they'll stay right in the race without a roster upgrade, but it just seems unlikely at this point. Fortunately for them, they do get to add a former Cy Young winner to their staff in the next few weeks. Chris Carpenter will be making a rehab start this week and the Cardinals hope to have him back within a month:

Pitching coach Dave Duncan does not expect Carpenter to take all 30 days available to him.

"I hope not," Duncan said. "What you do is you watch the steps that he's taking. ... You evaluate him as he goes."

It's hard to predict what Carp is going to be like having only made one start since the 2006 World Series, but Tommy John surgery is something that pitchers bounce back from pretty routinely these days. Most of the Cardinals' patch-work rotation has been turning in ugly starts of late (Kyle Lohse excepted) and Carpenter should provide an upgrade over what they're working with now. Still, counting on him to be the Carp of 2005 and 2006 is a lot and thinking he'll provide the boost that CC Sabathia and Rich Harden are capable of is expecting a lot. That's what Adam Wainwright's return is for.