Cards to announce plans for Lyons, Wacha on Friday

NEW YORK -- Side by side, Tyler Lyons and Michael Wacha threw their in-between-start bullpen sessions at Citi Field on Thursday. One will start for the Cardinals on Sunday, though the club will wait until Friday to announce who that will be.

The Cardinals wanted Lyons and Wacha to throw on Thursday so that the organization could keep both as options for Sunday's start against the Marlins. After Thursday's 2-1 win over the Mets, manager Mike Matheny said that a roster move hadn't yet been finalized and that everyone on the current 25-man roster would be traveling to Miami.

"There are a lot of moving parts here," Matheny said. "We haven't ruled out anything. We're just trying to take in all the information we can. Time is something we have, and we'll take every minute that we have to make sure we're doing the right thing."

At the latest, the Cardinals will have to announce their plans on Friday, since a roster move will be required before Jake Westbrook pitches against the Marlins that night.

Westbrook, who is set to come off the disabled list, will take Lyons' spot in the rotation. That does not, however, preclude the Cardinals from simply moving Lyons' next start to Sunday if they want to keep him on the big league roster.

Matheny did not discount the possibility that both Lyons and Wacha remain on the roster, with one the two sliding into the bullpen.

The two rookie pitchers have pitched comparably during their respective time with the Cardinals. Lyons, a lefty, has logged 25 2/3 innings in four starts and has given up 10 earned runs on 20 hits, walked five and struck out 14. In 17 2/3 innings, the right-handed Wacha has allowed nine earned runs on 17 hits, walked four and also struck out 14.