Musings from an Optimistic Redbird Fan – 2013

Shortstop situation – So now, it appears that St. Louis Cardinal Shortstop Raphael Furcal’s elbow is still bothering him. After being deemed healthy, Furcal’s elbow is still in fact bothering him. The issue is now a bone spurt that was not anticipated. It’s bothering him to the point he has yet to hit from his right side or throw at full strength. In Friday’s scrimmage game, Furcal did not play in the field; instead he was DH and went 2-3. Was it just me or were we led to believe his elbow would be fine by the time spring training rolled around? Now maybe, it’s sore due to not throwing a baseball for a while; that’s certainly possible and I hope that’s the case. Otherwise, Ronnie Cedaneo and some of the Cardinal youngsters will get more playing time than initially thought.

Shelby back on the mound – Cardinals pitcher Shelby Miller was back in the dugout throwing after experiencing shoulder discomfort. He threw a 25-pitch session Friday with no discomfort. I’m convinced he will be the fifth starter for the Cardinals.

Cardinal’s pitching depth – Despite what John Mozeliak says, I would not be surprised if the Cardinals were to re-sign Kyle Lohse. As it gets later into spring training, it’s more likely Lohse’s agent will start looking for one year deals and I think the Cards would be crazy to overlook that.

Game – The Cards’ first spring training game is tomorrow, Saturday, Feb 23 at 1:15pm EST against the Florida Marlins. I’ll have details of the game in my blog tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.