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Lance Lynn, you reliever turned starter, your labrum is now on the clock.

Q: What year is it?
A: Ty Wigginton

Yeah, cuz you and Jenny just didn't have it. Me and Jenny. We got it. I can unlock her defense with a well-timed through ball and a towering header.

Cards expect to activate Berkman during road trip

ST. LOUIS -- Lance Berkman will skip out on a Minor League rehab assignment and instead join the Cardinals for their upcoming road trip through Cincinnati and Milwaukee, which begins Friday. The club's expectation is that Berkman, who is working his way back from right knee surgery, will be activated some time during that six-day road swing.

Though Berkman hasn't played since May 19, he was not keen on the idea of spending a few days in the Minors to ensure that his body could handle the rigors of playing a full game before coming off the 15-day disabled list. He expressed this opinion to the Cardinals on Thursday, after which the determination was made that Berkman would wrap up his rehab work with the big league club.

"The knee is not an issue," Berkman said after participating in the team's workout at Busch Stadium on Thursday. "It wouldn't be to go down there and see if the knee can hold up under the duress of a live-game situation. I'd rather work my way back in at this level, and I feel like there's the personnel for me to be able to do that."

With Allen Craig, Carlos Beltran and Matt Carpenter available to play first base and right field, the Cardinals do have the luxury of easing Berkman back in when he is activated.

St. Louis intends to increase Berkman's on-field workouts on Friday to ensure that his body continues to respond appropriately. The organization will then make day-by-day evaluations of Berkman before deciding on which date he will return.

"He's actually running better than I've seen him in a while," manager Mike Matheny said. "But the timing is going to be tough. No question. To take a break that long and jump back into Major League speed isn't an easy task. We'll alter things a little bit [on Friday] and see how he responds."

Injuries have limited Berkman to only 13 games this season. He is batting .333 (14-for-42) with eight runs and four RBIs.

Lynn pushed back two days for extra rest

ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals will tweak their rotation coming out of the All-Star break in order to give Lance Lynn an extra two days of rest.

Instead of starting Lynn on Saturday, the Cardinals will have Kyle Lohse take the mound in the second game of a three-game series in Cincinnati. Lynn will then drop to Lohse's spot in the rotation and start for the club on Monday in Milwaukee.

The change in the rotation order was made after Lynn did not make an appearance in Tuesday's All-Star Game. The club also saw this as an opportunity to give Lynn, who has already thrown 103 innings, extended time off.

Yeah, the gonads pull in when its cold, but that happens to every man.

Yeah the torn rotator cuff is the worst (Mulder), but the torn labrum isn't a walk in the park (Carpenter in 2002). Depending on the extent of the tear, he may be out for an entire year or more - Carpenter's was completely detached and had to be stapled back on IIRC, so he missed all of 2003.

Read on the Cardinals' twitter feed that Jaime Garcia was transferred to the 60 day DL yesterday.

I assume to make room for Rosenthal on the 40 man

Q: What year is it?
A: Ty Wigginton

Joe Strauss ‏@JoeStrauss

Spoke to specialist who termed Carpenter's surgery "controversial." He had questions club hasn't answered. Club declines access to docs.

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter expects to begin a rehab program next week following surgery to relieve nerve compression that left his arm and much of the right side of his body numb.

The 37-year-old Carpenter gave no guarantee Tuesday that he'd be back next season. Carpenter didn't know when he'll be able to throw again, but said the surgeon, Dr. Greg Pearl of Dallas, told him there were no complications.

''There's always doubt with everything I've been through,'' Carpenter said. ''But I know I'll do whatever it takes to get out there again.''
Carpenter's top rib was removed along with two of the connecting muscles to free nerves, and scar tissue was removed. He was injured in spring training and last pitched as the Game 7 World Series winner last fall.

Carpenter said Pearl was ''very positive about the outcome'' and added, ''I'm sure we'll know by the end of the season whether or not it worked.''

Next year will be the final year of a two-year, $21 million contract for Carpenter, the staff ace when healthy but often injured. He won the 2005 NL Cy Young award but missed virtually all of the 2007 and 2008 seasons with an elbow injury and has dealt since 2008 with the nerve issue.

''This is about it. If it doesn't work, unfortunately I'm going to have to say good-bye,'' Carpenter said. ''But I don't think I will. I think it's going to be fine, I'm excited about it.''

Carpenter was 21-5 in 2005, led the National League with a 2.24 ERA in 2009 and is 95-42 since 2004, plus went 4-0 in the postseason last fall with a pair of victories over the Rangers.

Carpenter was in Dallas five days, staying an extra day after the operation Friday because there was more pain than he had anticipated, saying Pearl ''painted the picture of it being pretty routine.''

''I didn't want to get on a plane and fly home and not be around the people that did it,'' Carpenter said. ''But it's getting better each day.''
General manager John Mozeliak said last weekend that it would probably be a month or so before doctors could accurately assess the operation. Carpenter said there was no set protocol for how long it would take but said he worked out up to the surgery to perhaps give him the best chance of making a quick recovery.

Giving up before you have to is stupid.