When the Cardinals drew up their season plans way back before the start of Spring Training, they surely envisioned Carlos Martinez and Dakota Hudson playing significant roles on the pitching staff. That’s not quite how things turned out, though the club is still quite likely headed for the postseason.

The embattled Martinez was pulled from his start tonight with what the team is describing as a mid-back strain. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch was among those to cover the developments on Twitter.

Martinez was ultimately charged with eight earned runs, leaving him with an unsightly 9.90 ERA on the season. The prognosis remains to be seen, but it’s fair to wonder regardless whether he will play a significant role in the postseason (should the Cards qualify).

Martinez, who already missed a big chunk of the campaign owing to coronavirus infection, will earn $11.5MM next year before the club makes a call on the first of two club options. The Cards might conceivably shop him in the offseason, though contractual circumstances may instead dictate an effort at a rebound in St. Louis.

As for Hudson, it was already known that he’d miss the remainder of the year with a forearm injury. As Anne Rogers of MLB.com covers via Twitter, Hudson’s outlook beyond that point remains to be seen.

The outcome of an initial medical review isn’t known. Hudson is due for a second opinion on his wounded wing, with a decision on treatment to ensue.

Before the health issues intervened, Hudson had been humming. Through 39 frames over eight starts, he carried a 2.77 ERA. Despite marginal K/BB numbers, Hudson has throughout his young career induced loads of groundballs and outperformed ERA estimators.