Wacha agreed with the description that he’s “rusty” after missing 2½ months. He stressed there has been no discussion with him about ending his season and readying for 2015. The righty said that he feels healthy and strong but out of touch with his pitches.

That includes the changeup, his best pitch, which he has thrown rarely.

“I just haven’t had a good feel for it,” Wacha said. “It wasn’t because of anything other than I have no feel. I’m yanking it quite a bit. It hasn’t been there. It just hasn’t been a good pitch for me to this point.”

When the Cardinals brought Wacha back from the stress reaction that erased much of his season, they inserted him into the rotation and planned to have him build strength and stuff while in the middle of a pennant race. The club was reluctant to have him pitch as a reliever because they felt the daily strain of that role would weigh on his shoulder more than the workload of a starter. They also could not easily script relief appearances. Wacha said he would be open to relieving “if it gives me a chance to help the team.”

The preference remains to keep him as a starter.