JUPITER, Fla. -- The Cardinals enter the final week of Spring Training with 34 players remaining in Major League camp after cutting six following the team's 4-2 loss to the Marlins on Sunday.
Pitchers Tim Cooney, Dean Kiekhefer, Miguel Socolovich and Sam Tuivailala were optioned to Triple-A Memphis, along with catcher Mike Ohlman. First baseman/outfielder David Washington, a non-roster invitee in camp, was reassigned to Minor League camp. He, too, will open the season on the Triple-A Memphis roster.
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Cooney's stint in big league camp was complicated by shoulder soreness, which twice interrupted his throwing program. The lefty, the Cards' No. 8 prospect, threw a scoreless inning in his second Grapefruit League appearance on Saturday and will now build up as a starter in Minor League camp.
Kiekhefer, Socolovich and Tuivailala will all be key pieces in Memphis' bullpen. Kiekhefer, St. Louis' No. 28 prospect, made six scoreless appearances this spring, while Tuivailala, ranked No. 11, showed improved command and conviction with his cutter. Manager Mike Matheny described Ohlman, the Cardinals' No. 29 prospect, as the camp's most improved catcher, and he cited Washington's power potential and versatility as reasons why he could contribute later this year.
Of the 34 players remaining in camp, three (Mitch Harris, Lance Lynn and Jhonny Peralta) will begin the year on the disabled list. That leaves the club with six roster moves left to make before opening the season next Sunday.
Worth noting
• Kolten Wong, who bruised his left knee diving for a ball on Saturday, sat out of Sunday's game but is expected to be back in the lineup on Monday. Wong has five hits in his past nine at-bats.
• A day after Seth Maness threw three innings in a Minor League game, Matheny said that he expects all of Maness' subsequent spring outings to come in Grapefruit League games. Maness has expressed a desire to pitch as much as possible over the final days of camp.