JUPITER, Fla. 鈥 It remains an open question when will be able to swing a bat and face live pitching. Answering that question will help the Cardinals decide which direction to turn when they put together their outfield for opening day.
Neither the Cardinals nor Edman have an answer at this point in spring training, and they won鈥檛 get any closer to one for at least another week as Edman鈥檚 recovery from offseason surgery on his right wrist continues to drag out.
Edman will have 鈥渁 minimum鈥 of a week with no hitting, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said Thursday. Edman will still be able to throw and take part in defensive drills during that period.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 hurting him is swinging, and he鈥檚 been very limited swinging from the right side,鈥 Marmol said. 鈥淗e was progressing from the left side, and that started kind of grabbing at him. He was unable to kind of start a real progression from the right side.鈥
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Edman, who signed a two-year contract with the Cardinals this winter that will take him through his remaining arbitration-eligible seasons, knew he might be limited for the early stages of spring training workouts. However, he and the club expected he鈥檇 recover in time to play in exhibition games before the start of the regular season.
鈥淎fter surgery, I was kind of just following the rehab and following all the steps,鈥 Edman said. 鈥淚 assumed if I followed all the steps that I would be able to match the timeline. When things started going awry when I started hitting, I was a little confused as to why I was meeting those steps. That鈥檚 why I had to go get imaging done. The imaging revealed that the inflammation was still there.
鈥淚t鈥檚 frustrating for sure. The tough part is there鈥檚 not really anything I can do other than rest and just do all the anti-inflammatory stuff. I can鈥檛 push through rehab. If I push through it, I鈥檓 just going to make it even more inflamed. It鈥檚 just not a great feeling.鈥
Edman, 28, had surgery in October to repair the wrist issue he鈥檇 been playing through for parts of the past two seasons. The wrist ailment forced him onto the injured list last summer from July 7 to Aug. 1.
鈥淚t definitely was the thought that the surgery was going to help my wrist feel better,鈥 Edman said. 鈥淎nd I鈥檝e just got to trust that in the long run, it is going to feel better. I鈥檓 still hopeful that鈥檚 the case.
鈥淚 think that once I kind of take everything a little bit more slowly from here and let it fully heal, I鈥檓 confident that I will be able to come back this year and it will feel better than it has the last couple years.鈥
Edman went into camp as the club鈥檚 projected starting center fielder. His absence to start the season opens the possibility the Cardinals could turn to either Dylan Carlson or prospect Victor Scott II to fill in as the everyday center fielder.
Carlson, a switch hitter and former first-round draft pick, faces a pivotal point in his career trajectory after having shown flashes of his all-around ability including outstanding defensive prowess. He鈥檚 been hampered by inconsistency and injury in recent years. He went into camp as the club鈥檚 fourth outfielder and backup center fielder.
Scott, who was drafted in the fifth round in 2022, entered this spring ranked the No. 3 prospect in the Cardinals farm system by Baseball America and No. 83 overall on the publication鈥檚 Top 100 prospects.
In his first full season in the minors last year, Scott played at High-A and Double-A and earned a minor league Gold Glove Award, batted .303 and stole 94 bases in 132 games. He鈥檚 currently in major league camp as a non-roster invitee.
鈥淥ver the next week, we鈥檒l see if it鈥檚 still acting up, if it鈥檚 still grabbing at him,鈥 Marmol said. 鈥淚f so, (we鈥檒l see) how much longer we will wait until resuming swings. That will give us a much better picture as to what that timeline will look like. Today, we鈥檙e not sure.鈥
The Cardinals envisioned an outfield with Lars Nootbaar in left field, Jordan Walker in right field and Edman in center field on a daily basis.
Edman will begin the season on the IL, and Nootbaar鈥檚 status remains up in the air after he suffered two nondisplaced fractures in his ribs while crashing into the outfield wall during a spring training game.
Nootbaar has begun doing more rotational exercises in the weight room and is expected to be reevaluated Saturday. He has not swung a bat since his injury.
Lynn deals against Mets
Veteran right-hander first Grapefruit League start of the spring became memorable mostly for the way it ended, with an ejection by umpire Angel Hernandez for arguing balls and strikes. Hernandez then forced Lynn to leave the bullpen as he continued to throw pitches and build up his pitch count.
In his second spring training start, Lynn tossed four scoreless innings and held the New York Mets to one hit Thursday at Roger Dean Stadium. He struck out four and did not walk a batter. He threw 58 pitches in the outing, and his four-seam fastball and cutter accounted for 38 of those pitches.
Lynn, 36, threw several more pitches in the bullpen after he exited the game. He later quipped, while speaking to reporters outside the clubhouse, that he didn鈥檛 get ejected from either the game or the bullpen this time around.
Hernandez served as part of the umpiring crew for the game, but he wasn鈥檛 calling balls and strikes. Hernandez was at first base.
A two-time All-Star and 2011 World Series champion, Lynn is looking for a bounce-back performance after he posted the highest ERA of any season of his career last year (5.73) and allowed more home runs (44) than he had in the previous two seasons combined.
鈥淭oday was a good day,鈥 Lynn said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no other way to say it, but there鈥檚 still some work to do. We鈥檝e still got to build up pitch count-wise and stuff like that, but all in all, I just got do what made me really good for a lot of years and put last year behind me.鈥
Gray continues making progress
Cardinals pitcher Sonny Gray, the premier acquisition of their offseason, threw off the mound for the second time since he suffered a hamstring strain in a Grapefruit League start against the Washington Nationals on March 4.
Gray, whom the club named its opening day starting pitcher prior to the injury, has seemingly recovered quickly after leaving the game against the Nationals in the second inning. He threw his first bullpen session since the injury Monday.
Gray鈥檚 next outing could include facing batters in a controlled setting such as a live batting practice session on a practice field at the Cardinals training facility.
鈥淚鈥檒l sit down with him tomorrow and figure out how he recovers from doing what he did today, and then we鈥檒l together figure out what that next step needs to be,鈥 Marmol said.
Camp cuts continue
Following Thursdays鈥 game, the Cardinals announced they鈥檇 optioned right-handed pitcher to the Triple-A Memphis roster and they reassigned five pitchers and four position players to minor league camp. Right-hander Gordon Graceffo, right-hander Ryan Loutos, right-hander Michael McGreevy, and left-hander Connor Thomas were reassigned to minor league camp, as were catchers Aaron Antonini and Jimmy Crooks as well as infielders Arquimedes Gamboa and Jeremy Rivas.
After those moves, the Cardinals had 38 major league roster players and eight non-roster invitees remaining in camp.
Mets 0, Cardinals 0
New York ab r h bi St. 亚洲无码 ab r h bi
Nimmo lf 4 0 0 0 Donovan lf 3 0 0 0
Lindor ss 3 0 0 0 J.Young lf 1 0 0 0
W.Young ss 1 0 0 0 Gldscmdt 1b 3 0 0 0
Alonso 1b 2 0 0 0 Rivas 1b 1 0 0 0
Cuevas 1b 1 0 0 0 Crawford ss 1 0 0 0
Baty 3b 3 0 1 0 Saggese ss 2 0 0 0
Ritter pr-3b 0 0 0 0 Arenado 3b 3 0 0 0
Bader cf 3 0 0 0 Bchbrgr 3b 1 0 0 0
McIlwain cf 0 0 0 0 Cntreras c 2 0 1 0
Voit dh 3 0 0 0 Pag茅s c 0 0 0 0
Taylor rf 3 0 0 0 Harris pr 0 0 0 0
Short 2b 3 0 2 0 Crpnter dh 3 0 1 0
Tilien 2b 0 0 0 0 Baker ph 1 0 0 0
Nido c 3 0 0 0 Carlson cf 3 0 1 0
Senger c 0 0 0 0 Kperniak rf 0 0 0 0
Siani rf-cf 3 0 0 0
Ferm铆n 2b 3 0 0 0
Totals 29 0 3 0 Totals 30 0 3 0
New York 000 000 000 鈥 0
St. 亚洲无码 000 000 000 鈥 0
DP: New York 0, St. 亚洲无码 1. LOB: New York 3, St. 亚洲无码 6. SB: Crawford (1).
New York IP H R ER BB SO
Butto 4 2 0 0 2 3
Ottavino 1 0 0 0 0 2
Adams 1 0 0 0 0 3
Ramirez 2 1 0 0 0 4
Jay 1 0 0 0 0 2
St. 亚洲无码
Lynn 4 1 0 0 0 4
Helsley 1 0 0 0 0 2
Romero 1 1 0 0 0 1
Gallegos 1 1 0 0 1 1
Kittredge 1 0 0 0 0 1
Leahy 1 0 0 0 0 0
HBP: Jay (Pag茅s). WP: Butto. T: 2:12. Att: 6,240 (6,871).