JUPITER, Fla. — Cardinals infielder Brendan Ryan will miss at least the first couple games of the Grapefruit League schedule as the team forces him to rest an achy right wrist. Ryan is vying for a utility job, though with playing time at shortstop he could also win regular-season time at second base or third, depending on how the Cardinals’ auditions at those positions go.

This soreness, a recurring issue, forces him to miss the next three or four days of hitting, and he conceded that it could keep him out of the cages until this coming weekend.

“I backed off two times (during the offseason),” he said, “and thought, OK, maybe here the third time is a charm. The soreness came back. Bad wrists, I guess.”

Ryan only feels the pain, which is being called tendinitis, when he swings the bat, and he was able to take part in fielding work Monday. The tendon in his right wrist his swollen, he said. After two or three days of rest, Ryan will be re-evaluated. If the discomfort and the swelling have not diminished, the team may consider using a cortisone shot to tame the injury and get Ryan back on the field. He said this was not an injury that would keep him out of a regular-season game, but “we can take the time now.”

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