ST. LOUIS -- Corner infielders Mike Moustakas and Travis Shaw were among the players who applauded the Brewers' announcement that the club will extend the protective netting at Miller Park further down the foul lines before the start of next season, joining a growing list of teams to do so in the name of fan safety.

The netting will be extended an additional 105 feet on the first-base side to the aisle where Sections 108 and 109 meet. Along the third-base side, the netting will be extended an additional 145 feet to the aisle of Sections 128 and 129, extending past the area where the tarp is located.

The height of the extension will be the same as the net that is currently in place.

“It’s smart,” Shaw said. “I like it, especially nowadays, when half the people are on their phones. There’s just been too many incidents, especially little kids getting hurt. And it doesn’t impede the experience. If people are worried about foul balls, you’ll still get the high foul balls over the net. The foul balls that will be affected are the ones that are hit 150 mph. You’ll still get foul balls.”

Said Moustakas: “I think it’s a really smart thing to do. … Every time you see somebody hit a foul ball into the stands, you see everyone put their hands on their head and hope for the best. Now, we’ve got the nets, so it’s all good. There’s a reason the best seats in baseball are still behind home plate.”

Asked whether he worried that the netting would take away opportunities to catch foul popups along the wall, Moustakas said, “I’d rather not make a catch in the stands than see somebody get hit.”

“You don’t see that very often anyway,” Shaw said.

The Brewers say the project will be completed in time for exhibition games against the Royals on March 23-24, 2020.

One more test for Woodruff

All-Star right-hander Brandon Woodruff won’t return to active duty during the Brewers’ series in St. Louis. Rather, he will test his left oblique in one more bullpen session on Saturday before the club decides whether it’s time to activate him from the injured list.

Woodruff thinks a controlled, 20-25 pitch mound session will prove beneficial after he faced hitters in simulated action on Wednesday in Miami.

“Once you get to that point and see hitters, that’s when you’ve had the most intensity,” Woodruff said. “This is kind of the difficult stage. It’s the fine line between seeing hitters and getting in the game. I have to make sure I feel 100 percent before I want to get in a game. So far, so good.”

Brewers manager Craig Counsell said the club hasn’t decided whether Woodruff will pitch at the start of games or out of the bullpen once he’s active. Either way, his pitch count will be limited, considering he has not had time to stretch out as a traditional starter.

“At this point,” Woodruff said, “you don’t care. You just want to pitch.”

“That’s still part of the conversation,” Counsell said. “The thing with Woody and this injury is he had to stop throwing for nearly a month. The build-up is harder because of that, and we have to be safer as we do it. He’s going to start lower and we’ll see how we can build him up. We may not be able to build him up. It may be a function of the games.”

Last call

• Catcher Manny Pina’s concussion symptoms are lingering longer than expected, according to Counsell, who said Pina had been sent back to the team hotel two of the Brewers’ first three days in Miami before having “a good day” on Thursday.

“It’s getting better. Probably slower than our original timeline, but that’s how he’s feeling,” Counsell said. “[Thursday] he did some light activity. We’ll repeat that today. We have to stack good days in a row. Yesterday was No. 1.”

• Counsell expects Keston Hiura to be available to pinch-hit at some point in this series against the Cardinals. Hiura, who was activated this week from the 10-day injured list for a left hamstring strain, ran the bases aggressively on Thursday.