Physicals, drills part of Day One schedule
JUPITER, Fla. -- Though players have been working out at the Cardinals' spring complex for days, Friday marked the first official Spring Training workout run by manager Mike Matheny. The medical staff had pitchers and catchers shuffling through stations for their physical exams before Matheny held a 10 a.m. ET meeting with the group. Everyone went to work shortly after.
Here are some news and notes from the morning:
• Adam Wainwright inadvertently provided some comic relief in the clubhouse when he shattered one of the ceiling light covers with his bat. Wainwright was showing off his batting stance when he poked his bat into the light, cracking a panel and sending it to the floor.
"What a great start," Matt Carpenter quipped, after joining a chorus of laughter and helping pick up the broken pieces.
• Half of the 26 pitchers in Major League camp were scheduled to take the mound on Friday. The list includes Wainwright, Tim Cooney, Zach Petrick, Mike Mayers, Seth Maness, Miguel Socolovich, John Gast, Randy Choate, Matt Belisle, Jaime Garcia, Michael Wacha, Kevin Siegrist and Nick Greenwood.
The other 13 pitchers will rotate through pitchers' fielding practice (PFP) drills and practice their bunting techniques. They are all likely to get on the mound on Saturday.
• Yet again, the Cardinals have structured their workouts so that the different rotations each feature a group leader. Some of those roles are given to veterans, as is the case with Wainwright, Choate and John Lackey heading groups. Matheny also likes to challenge some of his younger players to assert themselves more, which is why he also selected Maness, Wacha, Lance Lynn, Trevor Rosenthal and Carlos Martinez to serve as leaders.
"You can be a young guy experience-wise, but you have traits that set you up to make people better," Matheny said. "There's a balance of experience, but there are some young guys who are going to be put into some leadership opportunities that they might not otherwise have had."
• Center fielder Jon Jay joined the group of early-arriving position players on Friday. Jay, who spends his offseasons in nearby Miami, recently signed a two-year contract that will cover his final two years of arbitration eligibility. The report date for position players is Tuesday, though most have already begun working out at the team's facility.