PITTSBURGH -- Though Ruben Tejada will open the season on the 15-day disabled list, the results of an MRI taken of Tejada's leg on Friday have the Cardinals hopeful the shortstop will be able to return to the field as soon as he is eligible.
Tejada has been diagnosed with a Grade 1 quad strain, far from the severity of the quad injuries that kept Matt Holliday and Matt Adams out for lengthy periods of time last season. Tejada was still with the team on Saturday, but he said he expects to travel to Florida within a few days to slowly begin baseball activities again at the team's Jupiter complex.
He suffered the injury running to first base in the Cardinals' Grapefruit League finale on Thursday. The setback came less than two weeks after the Cardinals signed Tejada to serve as a stopgap while the team waits for starting shortstop Jhonny Peralta to heal from a thumb injury.
Until Tejada returns, Jedd Gyorko is expected to get the bulk of playing time at short. Greg Garcia provides depth at the position. If Tejada can return as soon as he is eligible, he would miss the team's first 10 games.
Worth noting
• Manager Mike Matheny chose not to reveal his Opening Day lineup a day earlier, but it seems a strong possibility that Matt Holliday will make his Major League debut at first base in the game. With the Pirates starting left-hander Francisco Liriano, moving Holiday to first base would open a spot in left field for the right-handed-hitting Tommy Pham. Holliday was taking ground balls at first base during Saturday's workout.
• Jaime Garcia threw in a Minor League game on Friday, and Carlos Martinez was scheduled to do the same on Saturday so that both starters remain stretched out in advance of their regular-season debuts. Garcia and Martinez will fly to Pittsburgh late Saturday to join the team in advance of Sunday's season opener.
• Jordan Walden underwent an MRI in Dallas on Friday, but Matheny said on Saturday afternoon that he had not yet learned the results. Walden is opening the year on the DL after feeling continued discomfort in his right shoulder in his final spring appearance.
• Gyoko, a Morgantown, West Va., native, is leaving Opening Day tickets for 15 friends and family members on Sunday.
• For the numerologists out there, Jeremy Hazelbaker has been assigned No. 41, Eric Fryer will wear No. 59 and Matt Bowman will take No. 67.