Cardinals sit Garcia for at least a month

ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jaime Garcia will be shut down for a month and could be sidelined as long as two months due to an injury the team is calling a left shoulder strain.

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, which was 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 probably is 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.

"There's so many uncertainties with Jaime," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "For him to maybe have a break and come back better than ever is something I see as a positive."

The 25-year-old Garcia was a 13-game winner in each of his first two seasons but hasn't felt right from the start of 2012. He lost several mph on his fastball and struggled to find the proper arm slot. He lasted just two innings in his last start, and he's 3-4 with a 4.48 ERA.

Garcia thought in many of his early starts that perhaps he had a "dead arm" from last season, when he worked a career high 194 2/3 innings then made five starts in the postseason. He tried to work through it.

Matheny hadn't noticed any problems with the lefty, who had a season-best nine strikeouts over 7 1/3 innings at San Francisco on May 16 and followed that by working seven innings and allowing two runs in a win at home over the Padres. But Garcia knew he was winning with less than his best. He estimated he pitched at 50 to 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."

Garcia had been somewhat concerned the problem was mental before consulting with doctors. 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 today against the Indians. He'll take Garcia's spot in the rotation. The 24-year-old Kelly is 2-5 with a 2.86 ERA at Class AAA Memphis.