GatewayRedbirds.com

Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter explained that he woke up Sunday morning and felt a renewed sense of weakness in his right shoulder and that it persisted as he attempted to play catch later that day.

The lack of strength came two days after the righthander and the organization was buoyant about his pitches to hitters Friday in Kansas City.

He said it would not be wrong to see the similarity between these events -- throw well, but have trouble recovering -- and the ones in spring training that led to his prolonged absence. He has been unable to maintain the strength in the shoulder that he needs to pitch.

"I think we know why," he said. "It’s because of the nerve stuff. We need to find out why it’s doing it. That’s what we don’t know. ... It’s just not strong enough to throw."

This was supposed to be a significant day for Carpenter.

General manager John Mozeliak is here with the team in Miami in part to be there for Carpenter's scheduled throw against hitters. This was also supposed to be the live batting practice session that launched him to a rehab assignment later this week. Had today's workout gone as schedule, Carpenter could have been fitted for a minor-league start as soon as Friday. Instead, he'll return with the team to St. Louis for another round of evaluations to see if this delays his recovery or derails it.

Carpenter called missing the throw "a setback."

"Any time you come off a planned program it's not perfect," Mozeliak said. "But rather than jump to conclusions we'll give it a few days and re-evaluate it."

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.

Raise your hand if you think we're going to regret not signing Roy Oswalt.

It's hard to regret it when we're not sure if he was at all interested.

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.

Unless you are going to discount every media source, we are sure he was interested.

Well, let me be more clear. If he wanted to play in Texas (which makes perfect sense......... moreso than St. Louis), then it's pretty hard to have regrets.

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.

Come on. If the Cardinals had signed him in April, May, March, February, January, December, etc then he would have come to St. Louis. They could have, and probalby should have.