JUPITER, Fla. — On Sunday morning, starter Todd Wellemeyer revealed that he is no longer the only Kentucky Colonel patrolling the St. Louis Cardinals clubhouse. The population of card-carrying colonels tripled this offseason as Wellemeyer recruited pitching coach Dave Duncan into the group and the Cardinals went out and signed another member, lefty Trever Miller.

That means the Cardinals will take three colonels north for the regular season.

If you’re keeping score, that could be two more colonels than lefthanded relievers.

Rather then head back out into the market and land one of the lefties still wading in the free-agent pool — Will Ohman, Joe Beimel, to name two — the Cardinals feel confident that they will find one complement for Colonel Miller from a group of lefties already in camp. Royce Ring and Charlie Manning are on the 40-man roster and the Cardinals brought in Ian Ostlund on a non-roster invite to camp. There is also young lefty Brad Furnish and Japanese pitcher Katsuhiko Maekawa in camp. Reviews of the lefties who are not colonels have been mixed. A question facing the Cardinals is whether they want to have two lefties who have the same, sidearm-slinging, finesse-based approach, or if they want to offset Miller with a lefty who throws over the top or a little harder.

Ring, arguably the most accomplished of the group, once threw the hardest of the bunch, but he’s no longer the chucker he once was and has that sidearm delivery — effective against lefties, has been hit hard by righthanders. Manning came as a waiver claim from Washington and Ostlund was a score from the six-year free agent bin. Both have numbers that caught the Cardinals’ attention, including Ostlund’s zero home runs to lefthanded hitters in 108 plate appearances last year in Class AAA. Manning has been erratic in one live batting practice session. Ostlund has that overhand delivery, but could show more.

Maekawa was brought in for a look and likely to add depth in Class AAA. Furnish, who does throw the hardest of the lefties, was sent to the Arizona Fall League and given time to learn how to relieve because that door is going to swing open in the nearer future than a starting job. He was a late add to major-league camp this spring because there are innings to fill.

Furnish said it took some time to get a feel for warming up “on someone else’s schedule,” but he got the hang of the prep — and improved as a pitcher because of the approach. Being a reliever forced him to lean heavily on his best pitches and he came out of Arizona understanding that he could borrow some of that tack as a starter. His curve is most effective against lefties; the Cardinals have him working on a changeup he can pound inside on lefties; and sometimes his fastball has a little accidental cut to hit. He wants to eventually be able to use the cutter with purpose.

With help from Post-Dispatch captain video Erik Lunsford, here is some film on each lefty who threw Sunday at Roger Dean Stadium. Watch for yourself:

CHARLIE MANNING

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KATSUHIKO MAEKAWA

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IAN OSTLUND

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BRAD FURNISH

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