Carpenter could begin throwing mid-June

ST. LOUIS — Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter likely
won't begin any kind of throwing program until at least the middle of next
month, general manager John Mozeliak said on Saturday afternoon.



Carpenter, who was shut down in spring training because of weakness in his
right shoulder caused by a nerve irritation, reported progress in recent weeks
but still is not yet ready to begin throwing.



"Things are trending in the right direction," Mozeliak said. "We
still don't have a distinct timeline on when he's going to start throwing, but
I think the real positive right now is that he feels good with where he's at
and he's definitely inching in the right direction.



"If I had to guess, sometime in mid-June hopefully we'll be ready to start
thinking about a throwing program."



A return would likely be at least six weeks after the start of a throwing
program, likely putting Carpenter out until around August 1. But the fact
that the Cardinals now have somewhat of a timetable is positive news after not
knowing much about his future for several weeks.



"His strength is getting stronger and that's measurable, so that's
something everybody is looking at as a positive," Mozeliak said.



Carpenter, who turned 37 last month, threw more than 270 innings combining the
2011 regular season and playoffs, the most of any pitcher in baseball. He threw
36 grueling innings in the postseason, including two starts of three days of
rest and three World Series starts.



The veteran right-hander surpassed the 4,000-pitch mark for the first time in
his career, finishing with 4,155 pitches thrown in the regular season and
playoffs.



Carpenter first reported neck stiffness and pain following a workout of facing
live hitting on March 3. He had a cortisone injection to alleviate the pain, and
returned to the bullpen mound nearly two weeks later.



But his arm didn't respond after another workout facing live hitters a few days
later and he returned to St. Louis for a new round of tests. The Cardinals hoped
Carpenter could return sometime in May, but he's still yet to throw a ball
nearly two months after being shut down.



If Carpenter does return later this season, it likely won't be in the
bullpen.  Despite a possible return with just two months left in the
regular season, Mozeliak said moving the former Cy Young Award winner out of
the rotation wasn't being considered yet.



"I would doubt it," Mozeliak said. "It's something that we have
not discussed. Anything along those lines would be something we would want to
sit down and have open communication on that, but right now our focus is to get
him back and get him back on the mound and the likelihood would be in the
rotation."



Carpenter went 11-9 with a 3.45 ERA in 34 starts last season.



Lance Lynn has been an impressive fill-in so far, going 6-0 with a 1.40 ERA in
six starts in place of Carpenter in the rotation.