When St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright went down for the season in late April with a torn left Achilles tendon, the speculation was immediate: The Cardinals would look for a starting pitcher. Maybe Cole Hamels. Maybe Johnny Cueto if the Reds fell out of the race. Maybe they'd bring back Kyle Lohse.

One thing about the Cardinals, however: They never panic. No rash moves. They always understand that it's a long season, and they almost always prefer to rely on the internal depth in the organization. Jaime Garcia was a key member of the 2011 World Series champions, starting 32 games that year and going 13-7 with a 3.56 ERA. But the talented left-hander hadn't been able to stay healthy since: 20 starts in 2012, nine starts in 2013, seven in 2014.

Garcia had signed a long-term deal in August 2011 that runs through 2015 with two teams options after that, so the Cardinals kept him around. Despite the injuries, he'd pitched well when he was able to take the mound. They weren't going to necessarily count on him for 2015 -- not after Tommy John surgery in 2008, shoulder surgery in 2013 and thoracic outlet surgery last July to fix nerve issues in his arm, shoulder and hand -- but he was certainly a potential insurance policy.

He's been a good one. On Wednesday, Garcia allowed one run and five hits in seven innings as the Cardinals beat the Marlins 7-1, increasing their lead in the NL Central to seven games even as the Reds knocked around Gerrit Cole and the Pirates. In seven starts, Garcia is now 3-3 with a 1.69 ERA and averaging nearly seven innings per start -- he's gone at least six innings in every outing.

One reason he's pitching the best baseball of his career is his pitch efficiency, as we saw against the Marlins, with Garcia throwing just 90 pitches in his seven innings; his season high is just 102 pitches. He's averaging just 13.5 pitches per inning, fewest in the majors for pitchers with at least 40 innings:

1. Garcia: 13.5

2. Yusmeiro Petit, Giants: 13.8

3. Phil Hughes, Twins: 13.9

4. Mark Buehrle, Blue Jays: 14.1

5. Max Scherzer, Nationals: 14.2

(OK, how awesome is Scherzer? He's a power pitcher on this list with guys who would be labeled as finesse/control guys.)

In 2011, Garcia averaged 17.2 pitches per frame. Amazingly, despite the surgeries, he hasn't lost anything off his fastball while improving his command. In fact, he's throwing a little harder. In 2011, his fastball averaged 89.8 mph; this year, it's at 90.5. Like Madison Bumgarner, he pitches from the third-base side of the pitching rubber, but while Bumgarner does that to help get his fastball inside to right-handed batters, Garcia relies on horizontal movement on both his four-seamer and sinker. His fastballs often end up over the middle part of the plate, but hitters don't do a lot of damage against them.

He also throws a changeup -- a tough pitch that dives away from righties -- plus a curveball, slider and occasional cutter. So he's got the whole kitchen sink. That arsenal has led to a lot of weak contact so far. So even though he allows more contact than average, it's not hard contact, but a lot of ground balls (he's second in ground ball rate among those 151 pitches, behind only Brett Anderson). Throw strikes, get grounders, go seven innings. Pretty nice formula for success.

You know, this is kind of the Cardinals way -- as in they find a way. Last year, the Cardinals used 11 different starters who started at least four games. Seven other teams had at least 10 such starters. Six of them finished with losing records. The Cardinals won 90 games and reached the NLCS. So whether it's a resurgent Lohse or plucking Michael Wacha out of the minors or having a healthy Garcia, the Cardinals always manage to fill out their rotation.

Yes, they miss Wainwright. But remember the last time Wainwright went down for a season. The Cardinals won the World Series.