Chris Carpenter favourite, but St. Louis Cardinals yet to make decision for Opening Day starter
The St. Louis Cardinals’ manager on Sunday, February 26, stopped short of unequivocally naming the Opening Day Starter. Asked if it was Chris Carpenter who was going to have the start, he said it was too early to say anything as a lot can happen in the meanwhile.
"You have to have some plans, but I don't want to put anything in stone right now because it's still too early," Matheny said. "A lot can still happen."
But as things stand at the moment, there are strong indications that that it will be Chris Carpenter who is going to have the awaited Opening Day start. The Cardinals will have their first game on April 4 against the Miami Marlins.
Rumours swirl quite often prior to such a big game, but the Cardinals do not want to lend any credibility to such rumours by stating it now. But there are a few other things that need to be considered before any prediction can be made about it.
Carpenter has not thrown any live batting practice so far with the start of Spring Training. He will have his first practice session, so says the report, this week. The Cardinals will have an idea then as to how adjusted he is to go ahead with pitching.
However, the pitching coach has complete confidence in Chris Carpenter
"We'll plug him into games with wiggle room based on how he feels," pitching coach Derek Lilliquist said. "In terms of his scheduling... last year he had three starts and he was pretty darn good."
The Cardinals do not intend to use Carpenter much in Spring Training due to the risk they think are attached to it. The last time it was Adam Wainwright who could not hurl even a single pitch throughout the season due to his injury on the wrist during Spring
Training.
Carpenter remained one of the best starters the past season with his amazing arm-power, effective pitching and winning unlikely victories for the St. Louis Cardinals which culminated in the club’s success in the World Series against the Texas Rangers.
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