ST. LOUIS -- After placing William Fowler on the 10-day disabled list earlier in the day, Adam Wainwright was also put on the DL on Tuesday. A corresponding move will be made on Wednesday.
The right-handed pitcher is dealing with mid-back tightness, with the move being retroactive to July 23, the day after Wainwright's last start. His last outing against the Cubs was one of his best of the season, going 7 2/3 innings and allowing just two runs on four hits.
"He went out and had his bullpen [session] today, [and it] was something that kind of showed its head at the end of his start in Chicago," manager Mike Matheny said. "We knew that was kind of there, thought we might be getting ahead and it's tightening up on him."
Wainwright leads the Cardinals with 11 wins and has posted a 4.89 ERA in his 20 games started. This is the fourth time in his career that he has been disabled and the first since 2015.
After going through a rough patch this season, he has been on a run as of late, including a four-game winning streak before the no-decision in Chicago.
Wainwright was scheduled to make his next start on Thursday against the D-backs. Luke Weaver will most likely take the mound instead, as the right-hander was pulled from his start with Triple-A Memphis on Tuesday.
Weaver spent time with the Cardinals this season in relief, giving up three hits and no runs over three innings.
The Cardinals are optimistic, however, that Wainwright will be available for his next start in a critical series against the National League Central-leading Brewers.
"[We're] hopeful," Matheny said of Wainwright's availability vs. Milwaukee. "That's one of the benefits of this 10-day DL. Talking to him was pretty tough when you start talking about the DL, but I think just encouraging him and all of our starters when we have something going a bit wrong: Take advantage of that new rule, you're talking about missing a start."