JUPITER, Fla. — Cardinals outfielder Brian Barton left the spring training facility Tuesday morning to have his right knee checked out after experiencing soreness in the joint for several days.
Manager Tony La Russa said the Rule 5 pick has been “restricted” in drills.
Barton had surgery on the knee after last season to repair a chronic clicking and discomfort in the joint. The surgery, as described in an earlier blog entry, was what Barton called ”lateral release”, which is a procedure that stops the patella from rubbing against the femur. Barton said he also had some cartilage damage in the knee and that a bone bruise or small fracture had developed.
The Cardinals selected Barton in the offseason’s Rule 5 draft from Cleveland. A year, Barton was considered one of the best prospects in the Indians system, and MiLB.com picked him as its preseason player of the year for Cleveland’s organization. He slipped to the Cardinals in the draft partially because of concerns about his knee. For the Cardinals to retain control of Barton he will have to spend the entire season on the 25-man roster; otherwise, he has to be offered back to Cleveland or a trade agreed upon.
It is possible for Barton to start the season on the disabled list or even on a rehab assignment as he recovers from the knee.
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P-D Blogs have been down most of the afternoon, so the grand plan to live blog updates from the game and stuff … poof! Instead, shortly, there will be the standard camp update. A little later than usual, but, hey, you get two today and neither mentions the Mitchell Report.
Oops.
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Colby Rasmus hit a home run in the coach-pitch game. Adjust the arrival clock accordingly.
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The Cardinals will play a coach-pitch scrimmage today, with Brendan Ryan being the only player from last year’s major-league team scheduled to appear in the game. Ryan has been asking coaches what his best way to make the team is — is it as a backup shortstop? As a utility infielder? He wants to know where he should be taking groundballs during drills. The answer: second, short and third. Get busy.
The lineups for today’s scrimmage, understanding that La Russa bats the players according to their position number (or there about), with “1″ being the designated hitter.
TEAM MATHENY
- Brandon Yarbrough, DH
- David Carpenter, C
- Mark Johnson, 1B
- Jarrett Hoffpauir, 2B
- Brian Barden, SS
- David Freese, 3B
- Cody Haerther, LF
- Colby Rasmus, CF
- Nick Stavinoha, RF
TEAM WALKER
- Matt Pagnozzi, DH
- Nick Derba, C
- Bryan Anderson, 1B
- D’Angelo Jimenez, 2B
- Brendan Ryan, SS
- Rico Washington, 3B
- Amaury Marti, LF
- Joe Mather, CF
- Gabe Johnson, RF
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La Russa said Tuesday that he will bat the pitcher eighth this season, and he will start doing so this spring once he inserts the pitcher into the lineup midway through March. According to reports, the Brewers are also considering the Crazy 8 Lineup.
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The local paper — my alma mater, The Palm Beach Post – comes through with two St. Louis-based articles in today’s paper. A strong feature on Scott Spiezio’s rehab, therapy and recovery, by Tom D’Angelo. It even has a headline that this rocker would appreciate. … And, a sidebar on De Smet grad and pitcher Bobby Keppel, a non-roster invitee to Florida’s spring training.
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