ST. LOUIS — The Cardinals could be without two of their three projected starting outfielders on opening day.
John Mozeliak, the team’s president of baseball operations, said Friday that he considered it “doubtful” that center fielder Tommy Edman will be ready to play when the Cardinals open the season on March 28 in Los Angeles.
Edman is recovering from an operation on his wrist in October and while he has participated in some drills, he has yet to take live batting practice or play in a game during spring training.
The Cardinals also could be without Lars Nootbaar, scheduled to be the regular left fielder, after imaging revealed he has two non-displaced fractures in his ribs.
“Not ideal,” Mozeliak said. “Level of concern is real. But you always have to remind yourself that April 1 isn’t the entire season either.”
Mozeliak said Nootbaar likely will be sidelined for the next 10 to 14 days, with his ability to swing a bat determined by his pain tolerance.
Nootbaar was injured when he crashed into the outfield wall trying to make a catch, with his elbow jamming into his ribs.
“He has to get to a point where he can’t have any traumatic injury to that area, so that’s why you won’t see him playing in the field,” Mozeliak said. “From a swing standpoint, it’s just tolerance.”
Mozeliak said the team will know at the end of the two-week timetable if Nootbaar will be ready to play by the season-opener. He said he thought it was more likely Nootbaar could be ready than Edman.
“He ran into a wall, and here we are,” Mozeliak said. “We’ll see how he feels over the next week or so.”
The Cardinals also could be without their scheduled starting pitcher for opening day, Sonny Gray, because of a hamstring strain he suffered while pitching on Monday.
The injuries to Nootbaar and Edman will create more playing time for the team’s other outfielders. Dylan Carlson is projected to replace Edman with either Alec Burleson or Mike Siani having an increased chance to make the roster if Nootbaar can’t play.
It’s also possible the Cardinals could promote Victor Scott II, their top outfield prospect who had been expected to begin the year at Triple A Memphis – if they believe Edman and/or Nootbaar will miss an extended period.
“I think we have to be a little more patient with Vic,” Mozeliak said. “Clearly he has opened up some eyes early on but we still have three weeks of camp left … a lot of time to make some judgment decisions.”
Manager Oli Marmol said the team will be better able to make the decisions once they have more clarily on exactly how long they expect to be without Nootbaar and/or Edman.
“We’ll take a deeper look at it as we get closer,” Marmol said. “Right now we have no idea how long that will be … then we will start to fill in the gaps.”
Another possibility is moving Brendan Donovan to left field, which he has played in the past. The Cardinals are somewhat reluctant to do that, however, as his coming off surgery on his right elbow.
“You may see him getting some work there over the next couple of weeks, just in case,” Mozeliak said.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains
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