
St. Louis Cardinals left-hander Jaime Garcia, who has missed significant time in the last two seasons because of shoulder problems, leading to labrum and rotator cuff surgery last May, probably won’t be ready at the start of this season either.
Garcia, after experiencing discomfort following a throwing session before the exhibition season began, saw two doctors and then got a cortisone shot for his shoulder before returning to camp. But when he will pitch again is uncertain.
“The good news is that there’s nothing structurally wrong with him,” general manager John Mozeliak said. “He does have inflammation. Depending on how he feels after that injection will determine that next step.
“But this is certainly better than it could have been.”
Mozeliak said the immediate program for Garcia is “baby steps. He is behind but, in fairness, we should let the next few days or week unfold.”
Asked if Garcia might be better off trying to return as a reliever, Mozeliak said, “From the volume (of innings) standpoint, there might be some logic there. But the one counterintuitive part of that is ‘can you go back-to-back (days)?’ That’s the part I can’t answer.
“He felt like he had a pretty seamless rehab last summer and then not feel right a week-and-a-half into camp. . . that’s frustrating.”
The 27-year-old Garcia is 39-25 in his Cardinals career, including 5-2 last year before he went on the disabled list, and is in the midst of a four-year contract that will pay him $7.75 million this year, $9.25 million next year, with team options of $11.5 million and $12 million for 2016-17.
“He’s got work ahead of him,” Mozeliak said. “The depth here is going to create a very tough competition.”
The rotation candidates behind staff ace Adam Wainwright are Michael Wacha, Shelby Miller, Joe Kelly and Carlos Martinez and Lance Lynn.
NOTES, QUOTES
–The Cardinals were embarrassed over dozens of graphic images that pitcher Carlos Martinez had on his public Twitter page and helped him remove the pornographic photos and links from his “favorites” page. Before he could delete them the page had gone viral, spread by Twitter users and Deadspin.com. “We’re embarrassed, and he’s embarrassed,” said manager Mike Matheny, who spoke to the 22-year-old right-hander. “I’m not trying to shove my morality down anybody’s throat. I’ve made that very clear. But I also need to be concerned about it. Is this something you’d want your kids to see? Is this something that you want to be known for? Is this how you want to be remembered? We are, like it or not, role models. Regardless of your moral compass and where it points, those sorts of things that we’re talking about are not things we want our kids seeing.”
–RHP Trevor Rosenthal had to cut short a batting practice throwing session because of soreness in his right quad. “It’s nothing real serious,” the closer said. “Being this early, I thought I would say something and take care of it now. If it was during the season, I feel it would be nothing worth stopping. I just thought I’d say something.”
–RHP Jason Motte, who missed last season after Tommy John elbow surgery, is progressing but doesn’t think he’ll be ready for the start of the regular season on March 31. “You don’t want to push it because then you end up messing with your arm, your shoulder and other stuff because it’s not quite ready,” Motte said. “I don’t want to push for April and have trouble when I could be ready later and pitch the whole season.”
–RF Allen Craig, seemingly healed from the severely sprained foot he suffered last September, fell three runs batted in shy of 100 after knocking in 92 runs in an injury-plagued 2012 season. “I don’t think about ‘woulda, coulda, shoulda,’” Craig told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I think I’ve done a good job preparing myself every year to play every game. I’ve had a couple of unfortunate injuries as a result of fluky things trying to make a play happen. My goal is to play every single game, but I’m not looking back regretting anything. I’ve played hard.”
–OF Shane Robinson, a valuable reserve who helped win a couple of playoff games last year, finds himself fighting for a job again. But he said, “You can get in trouble if you focus on, ‘Oh, man. Every year I come in here, nothing’s ever given to me. And when is it going to be my chance to have a little pressure off me in the spring?’ If I think that way, then I might not be in the spot I am. It gives me some edge. It keeps me competitive.”
QUOTE TO NOTE: “Both teams are my team. It’s the right thing to do.” — Manager Mike Matheny on assigning himself to clean the toilets in the clubhouse, a task which befell the losing team in an intrasquad game.