MLB.com
JUPITER, Fla. -- Cardinals manager Tony La Russa announced his team's pitchers for the first week of the regular season on Sunday. La Russa said that the club will use all five of its starters regularly during the early part of the season, despite numerous off-days.
Chris Carpenter will pitch Opening Night against the Mets on Sunday, April 1, and then on Friday, April 6, against the Astros in Houston. Kip Wells will start the season's second game, April 3 against New York, with Braden Looper getting the start on April 4 against the Mets. Following Carpenter in Houston will be Adam Wainwright on Saturday, April 7, and Anthony Reyes on Sunday, April 8. La Russa did not divulge how the rotation will shape up beyond the season's first week.
"You take it out a month or six weeks and just create [a situation] where you feel like you can ... have a chance to win the series, which is our goal," La Russa said. "The way the off-days and the matchups fall, we feel like that's our best shot."
La Russa emphasized the fact that no pitcher will be regularly skipped in the early going. Carpenter, the clear staff ace, will not necessarily be kept to an every-fifth-day schedule -- though that's how he'll be used in the first week.
"We were seriously, for the first time in years, talking about [having] four guys and the fifth guy bouncing in and out," La Russa said. "But because of how well these guys have gone about everything, game and non-game days, we'll be pitching five guys. And we like that because we can get some off-days to keep guys fresh and hopefully have a lot of gas in our tanks in the second half of the season. It's a compliment to what the other four guys have done."
Visit from the Bear: Golf legend Jack Nicklaus, a friend of La Russa's, addressed the Cardinals prior to their workout on Sunday morning. Nicklaus, golf's all-time record holder with 18 major championship wins, is a resident of Palm Beach County.
Known as the "Golden Bear," Nicklaus signed numerous autographs and posed for photographs with players and coaches alike.
"They're all fired up," La Russa said of his players. "That's why I always get a kick out of it when we do that. You look around, and he has their attention. I always look with envy, because I get them answering their mail and talking on their cell phones. They pay attention to him."
Molina update: Catcher Yadier Molina was held out for a fourth straight day due to due soreness in his right shoulder. Molina was expected to test out the shoulder in practice on Sunday.
"He's feeling better," La Russa said. "He's going to throw some today. If this was the opening of the season, he would play. But we want to make sure we put that behind us. It's nothing with hitting. It's all throwing. And it's such a weapon that you want to get it well. He throws a lot, and that's just part of what happens."
Weather report: Monday will look a lot like Sunday in Jupiter, weather-wise, at least. The forecast calls for a first-pitch temperature of 80 degrees, a very slight chance of rain and winds at around 20 mph.
Coming up: The Cardinals will be the visitors in their own home ballpark on Monday when they play the Florida Marlins at Roger Dean Stadium. Wainwright will make his last Grapefruit League start, opposed by the Marlins' Sergio Mitre. First pitch is set for 12:05 p.m. CT.
