JUPITER, Fla. • The St. Louis Cardinals are of course leaning toward having Chris Carpenter start opening day at Miami and manager Mike Matheny insisted Sunday morning that the ace's readiness is not the factor keeping him from an official announcement.

Caution, however, is keeping the Cardinals from having Carpenter on the same program as other pitchers.

As of this afternoon, all of the pitchers in camp will have faced hitters in live batting practice sessions except for two, Carpenter and prospect righty Jordan Swagerty. Lance Lynn, who was slowed by hamstring soreness, is set to face hitters today.

Carpenter threw a bullpen Saturday and he is expected to face hitters within less than a week. But the Cardinals have modified -- even slowed -- his program this spring to acknowledge the workload that the righthander had in 2011. No pitcher in the majors threw as many innings or pitches as Carpenter, and that could mean given him a break this spring by skipping his starts in Grapefruit League play.

"I don't think I've really thrown him to the medical staff as much as I've thrown him to (how) he needs to communicate with us," Matheny explained. "We've given him some different alternatives of missing a start in spring, missing two starts in spring, missing three starts. Chris, what do you need? What do you think is going to set you up? Here is our concern -- the amount of innings that you've had in the past. We need to see how you feel. And all of that goes into the equation."

Asked if Carpenter is the opening day start and whether his schedule this spring would be targeted toward that April 4th start, Matheny said things are fluid.

"Still putting that together," Matheny said. "Certainly leaning that direction. But a lot can still happen."

On Day 8 of spring workouts, Matheny touched on a variety of topics:

-- The team has talked about having David Freese take groundballs this spring at first base so that he is an option as Lance Berkman's backup early in the season, should Allen Craig remain shelved.

-- Matt Carpenter and Mark Hamilton are both likely to see time in the outfield during games to test their versatility.

-- Matheny is getting updates from the medical staff on Craig's recovery from knee surgery. Craig has not hit, has played some catch and has yet to run. The outfielder said he is not worried about hitting. The big hurdle he has to clear is enough leg strength and knee health to be cleared to run at full speed (read: game speed).

"He's ahead of where he needs to be, but not so far that you can start looking at him for April," Matheny explained, while adding that Craig's availability for opening day or for games in March has not been ruled in or out because the timetable is set by how he feels and progresses day by day.

-- Adam Wainwright was scheduled to throw a bullpen this morning, but he opted to do his work on flat ground. This is not unusual. Pitchers have that option between live BP sessions to throw a traditional bullpen -- like Jason Motte did today, for example -- or get their throwing work in off the mound. Wainwright will face hitters as scheduled on Tuesday.

-- The manager suggested that he didn't have the same view of the second base competition that was presented by others in Sunday's Post-Dispatch. He questioned whether it was fair to say Tyler Greene was going to get more opportunity than others -- an opinion expressed by several members of organization, on the record -- because he "didn't have any preconceived notions about (that position)," Matheny said. "I'm going to fight to have any prejudice in one direction."

-- Matheny offered a distinct view of what's possible for the team and for individuals in 2012, even those who were a part of the World Series championship: "There are 60 guys out there who can be better than they were last year."

For Carpenter, the Cardinals just want him to be as durable.

Post-Dispatch baseball writer Joe Strauss first reported that the Cardinals had scaled-back the righthander's schedule this spring to address his workload and past trends when he comes off seasons with such workload. Carpenter has agreed to the modified schedule, and Matheny said many of the decisions the team is making with Carpenter's throwing schedule come from talking to the righty.

"We're just reading him," Matheny said. "There are a lot of guys where there is kind of an urgency. We want to see them. We want to get them out there. He is certainly not a guy that has to prove something to us. It's, 'Carp how do we get your ready for the beginning of the season? Let's start talking about what it looks like. Take it slow. You don't have to give us an answer today.'"

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