PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Cardinals shortstop Jhonny Peralta had successful surgery Thursday morning in St. Louis to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb.
It's uncertain when Peralta will be able to return to normal baseball activities, but it likely won't be for at least two months or more.
• Spring Training: Schedule | Tickets | Complete info
"I haven't heard an exact date that I feel comfortable passing around, but that's been kind of the earmark date, 10-12 weeks," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said Wednesday, prior to the Cardinals' 7-2 loss to the Mets at Tradition Field. "There's been some people who said even less, so we'll wait and hear what the doctor says, when he thinks he can get back into activity and when he could likely be back to play."
Matheny said that Peralta is expected to return to the Cardinals' Spring Training camp in Jupiter "in a couple of days."
Aledmys Diaz started at shortstop Thursday against the Mets. Matheny said that Diaz, Greg Garcia and Jedd Gyorko will be closely looked at as Peralta's replacement. Garcia, who started at third Wednesday, has seen the most action at shortstop since Peralta injured his thumb during last Saturday's game against the Marlins.
"We've seen Garcia out there. I think we've got a pretty good idea with Greg," Matheny said. "I think right now we need to get a better look at a couple guys we haven't seen. Haven't seen much of Diaz and haven't seen much of Gyorko. We need to see for ourselves."
Kolten Wong was in the leadoff spot against the Mets, but Matheny said there's a possibility that he could move down into the middle of the batting order where Peralta would have batted.
"Wong could fit anywhere," Matheny said. "He's still working hard to prove that he can put together those great at-bats at the top of the lineup, so we're going to keep looking at that, but realize that he has been in that 6-7 [spot in lineup] before because he can jump into one and show some power. So there's a lot of flexibility there."