JUPITER, Fla. — The end is nigh.
The Cardinals look to leave Florida on a weeklong winning streak with only one stop and two games between them and the regular-season opening Monday at Busch Stadium. Most of the decisions have been made. Only two questions remain for the roster:
- Is Brendan Ryan healthy enough to be active?
- Anthony Reyes or Kelvin Jimenez for the last bullpen spot?
Looks like both of those questions will be answered in Springfield. But the Cardinals do have one more inquiry to pursue before heading north: Kyle Lohse. The righthander will make his last start of spring — his final start before the Cardinals conjure up something for him to do Tuesday in prep for the sixth game of the season. For a pitcher who spent the first month of spring training as a man without a mound, Lohse has kept pace. This will be a six-inning test for the righthander.
And this will be the lineup he has around him:
- Skip Schumaker, RF
- Chris Duncan, LF
- Albert Pujols, 1B
- Rick Ankiel, CF
- Troy Glaus, 3B
- Yadier Molina, C
- Adam Kennedy, 2B
- Kyle Lohse, RHP
- Cesar Izturis, SS
The bench is standard, with the addition of INF Rico Washington and OF Amaury Marti, of note. The bullpen features: LHP Randy Flores, LHP Ron Villone, RHP Ryan Franklin, newly-minted rookie RHP Kyle McClellan, RHP Russ Springer and, making that last push, RHP Kelvin Jimenez.
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