Wednesday, Sep. 16, 2009

Cardinals' pitching situation still has questions

ST. LOUIS -- Again Tuesday, there was little enlightenment about the St. Louis Cardinals' pitching plans for the weekend series against the Chicago Cubs.

This much is known:

*Kyle Lohse, whose MRI on his right forearm Monday was negative, has been cleared to pitch by doctors. Lohse was originally scheduled to work the opener of the series against the Cubs on Friday and is proceeding as if that will happen, although he hasn't been told he will pitch.

* John Smoltz will throw a bullpen today and expects to learn afterwards about when he will pitch. Smoltz, recovered from his shoulder tendinitis, had tentatively been scheduled to pitch the Sunday night game on ESPN, but Lohse's uncertain status might force the Cardinals to use Smoltz on Friday or Saturday.

"We're thinking about the Marlins. I haven't decided about this weekend," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said Tuesday before his team played Florida. "We're just making sure we look at who we have available and what our options are. We'll make a decision when we have to. Not right now."

Chris Carpenter, who pitched Sunday, and Adam Wainwright, who pitched Tuesday, also are in play for the weekend. Carpenter would be on regular rest Friday. The earliest Wainwright would pitch would be Sunday night.

Lohse threw a bullpen Tuesday. He lasted just 3 1/3 innings Saturday and experienced enough discomfort that he requested to undergo an MRI. Lohse was on the disabled list from June 4 to July 11 with a strained right forearm and from Aug. 22 to Sept. 6 with a strained left groin.

"I probably got in some bad habits and I'm still trying to break them," Lohse said. "In my opinion, when I came out the first time off the DL, I was trying to do things to get it going and I kind of got myself in bad positions to make pitches as far as where my arm was and my body."

Lohse said that wasn't the case Tuesday in his bullpen.

"It was a lot better," he said. "The first thing I was concentrating on was (throwing) everything down. I was pretty much able to do that. I felt like today was a good little session. I approached today like I'm starting on Friday and the rest is not up to me."

Lohse didn't want to get too high about a quality bullpen.

"It was a lot better than the game (Saturday)," he said. "What does that mean? Nothing, really, because it's not a game."

Regarding Lohse's health and readiness to make a start, La Russa said: "We just haven't talked about it. It's been a busy afternoon and I haven't talked to the trainers and I haven't talked to Dunc (pitching coach Dave Duncan)."

That also leaves Smoltz's situation unresolved.

"He's one of the guys in the mix," La Russa said. "You put a lot of things together. When the information is incomplete, you don't throw out tidbits here and tidbits there, because it's not worth much."