JUPITER, Fla. -- Yairo Muñoz received encouraging news on Saturday when X-rays of his bruised left hand came back showing no fracture.

Munoz took a pitch off his hand in the eighth inning of a 4-3 win over the Marlins. He departed the Cardinals’ complex less than an hour later for further examination, his hand wrapped in bandages and iced.

“Obviously hoping for the best," manager Mike Shildt said.

The Cardinals may have gotten it. A fracture would have ended Munoz’s chances of cracking the Opening Day roster.

Before being hit, Munoz appeared both in center field and at shortstop, a nod to the versatility that makes him so valuable. He entered Saturday having hit safely in each of his first four spring games. He’s reached base in all five and is tied for the team lead with five hits.

Wacha sails in second start

Michael Wacha threw 42 pitches (25 strikes) and allowed just one walk on Saturday. He also struck out four, including three on changeups.

“I was able to throw it for strikes, get some swing and misses on it, which is what I’m looking for, for sure,” Wacha said of the changeup. “The offspeed pitches were all there.”

Fine-tuning his fastball command is next, Wacha noted.

"Right now, it’s just continuing to get those mechanics down from where they were last year and repeating those over and over to where it’s just second nature," Wacha said. "And then getting that fastball command back to where I need it to be. Everything works off of that pitch. I need to get that to where I need to be."

Pitching plans

Top prospect Alex Reyes will make his spring debut in relief on Tuesday when the Cardinals travel to Clearwater to face the Phillies. He’ll follow Jack Flaherty in that game.

Shildt also confirmed that Adam Wainwright (Monday) and John Gant (Wednesday) will draw starts on the team’s brief road trip next week. The Cardinals will skip Miles Mikolas this turn through their spring rotation and have him throw in a controlled setting on the back fields instead.

Worth noting

• Yadier Molina and Matt Wieters each homered in a Saturday morning squad game. Both catchers, along with second baseman Kolten Wong, requested the extra at-bats as a way to get work outside of Grapefruit League games. Pitchers Hunter Cervenka, Seth Elledge, Williams Perez and Evan Kruczynski also appeared in the game.

• With an 0-for-3 day on Saturday, Marcell Ozuna is now hitless in his first 10 at-bats as a designated hitter this spring. The Cardinals do not expect Ozuna, who is still building up strength in his right shoulder, to be ready to play the outfield for at least another week.

Up next

Daniel Ponce de Leon, a candidate for the Cardinals’ open rotation spot, will make his first spring start on Sunday when the Cardinals host the Mets in a 12:05 p.m. CT game at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Right-hander Zack Wheeler is scheduled to start for New York. Regulars Paul DeJong, Harrison Bader and Wong are expected to be in St. Louis’ starting lineup.