flinty victor: St. Louis Cardinals Baseball Spring Training Report 2/24/2012

: St. Louis Cardinals - Marissa Bunch

As full squad workouts began on Friday, the overall health and outlook of the team is very good. Only ten days remain until Grapefruit League games begin.

The best news new manager Mike Matheny, the front office and all of Cardinals Nation could receive at this time of year is that pitcher Adam Wainwright is recovering well and progressing on pace one year removed from season-ending Tommy John surgery. That is exactly the news we all received from Jupiter, Florida on Friday, as Wainwright threw a full session of live batting practice to hitters. He has experienced no soreness or setbacks so far this spring.

New Faces

Newly penned outfielder Carlos Beltran officially began performing on his 2-year, $26 million deal with the team on Thursday. Beltran was signed not as a replacement for the outgoing Albert Pujols, but as another piece in what is considered a strong offense. Beltran is a year removed from offseason knee surgury that hindered his workload last spring, where he appeared in only two games. Newly inked shortstop Rafael Furcal also reported to camp early on Thursday, and participated in drills with Beltran.

Injury News

Outfielder Allen Craig, recovering from surgery on his right knee following the World Series, played catch on Thursday for the first time since the procedure. He is being limited to non-baseball activities for the time being. Righthanded pitcher Lance Lynn, battling for a bullpen spot, has had minor left hamstring tightness and is limited in his workouts.

Infield Battles

At the start of camp, there is no official starter at the second base position. Skip Schumaker, who manned the position for the majority of games last season and signed an extension with the team in the offseason, will be battling for the job with Daniel Descalso and Tyler Greene, who both spent time in the majors last season. Descalso frequently covered third base for the period of time that starter David Freese was out with injury and was at that post when the final out of the World Series was recorded. Greene, primarily a shortstop throughout his career, lives just miles from the Cardinals training complex in Jupiter and has been taking grounders at second base since the first week of January. Also in camp is recently signed veteran infielder Alex Cora, a non-roster invitee. He will be battling for a roster spot as well as instructing young prospects, such as last year's number one draft pick, second baseman Kolten Wong.

Need for Speed

Despite the fact that he only appeared in 58 games last year, Greene led the team with 11 stolen bases, on 11 attempts. Matheny has stated that he will put more of an emphasis on baseruning this season. The Cardinals were 29th out of 30 teams in stolen bases last season. Former Cardinals Lou Brock, Ozzie Smith and Willie McGee will be in camp this spring as guest instructors and will be heavily involved with baserunning workouts and discussion.

Oswalt

It would appear that veteran pitcher Roy Oswalt, courted by the Cardinals and other teams throughout the offseason, will begin the 2012 campaigm unemployed. According to his agent, the 34-year old righthander plans to remain in game shape and could be ready to join a contending club by midseason.

Source: cardinals.com

Copyright Chad Bunch. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication. My wife and I in Florida., Marissa Bunch

Chad Bunch - Cardinals fan, chef, Father, Husband, reader and writer. These are just a few of the adjectives and titles that describe my life. Marissa ...