JUPITER, Fla. • Coming in from the back fields to the clubhouse Thursday morning at the Cardinals spring training complex, closer Jason Motte took stock of the teammates all around him — the ones throwing off the mounds, the ones taking grounders on a nearby infield.

He told ace Chris Carpenter that spring must have already started.

"It feels like we started today," Motte said. "All that was missing was we didn't have that big team stretch and PFPs (pitchers fielding practice). It feels like we just went ahead and started a few days early."

Two days before pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to camp and three days before the first official workout of spring training, the Cardinals almost had a full armory of arms throwing Thursday. With Kyle Lohse in town earlier than he expected, all five of the Cardinals' starters have reported. Reliever Mitchell Boggs made his first appearance of spring Thursday morning, leaving the bullpen only a few arms shy of full occupancy.

A total of seven pitchers threw complete bullpens Thursday, with manager Mike Matheny watching from behind the mounds for the first time. Starter Adam Wainwright faced batters in his last live batting practice session before spring training officially begins.

Pitching coach Derek Lilliquist said Thursday was "informally formal."

"Basically, we're checking to see that there are no red flags or when you see somebody throw you go, ‘Oh, really, what have you been doing?'" said Lilliquist, who moved into pitching coach Dave Duncan's job when he took a leave of absence to help with his wife's recovery from cancer. "So, we get a read here on where they are health-wise. Everybody looks right on track."

Motte, Kyle McClellan, Lance Lynn and starter Jaime Garcia were four of the seven pitchers who threw complete bullpen sessions Thursday. Lefty Sam Freeman, starter Brandon Dickson and prospect Jordan Swagerty were the youngsters who took the mound with Matheny watching.

The only giveaway that workouts had not started was their attire.

Wearing shorts and t-shirts of their choosing — instead of the Cardinals-issued white pants, jerseys and caps coming their way this weekend — the pitchers threw bullpens with the same intensity that will be required this week.

"That's just the normal progression for them, whether they're doing it at home or doing it here," Lilliquist said. "A lot of guys like to come here early, get settled, get used to the environment, see their buddies. It's the normal progression. This is moving forward to the amount of work they'll be doing in three days."

McClellan, usually one of the earliest ‘birds to arrive at spring training, said the goal in each bullpen off the mound "is you're looking to get a little sharper with everything." The reason he arrives early is so that he speeds up that process before the uniforms go on.

Lilliquist described how when he was a pitcher he didn't have the luxury of warming into camp. He had to be ready to impress on the first day, and that meant dialing all of his workouts back a few weeks so that he was sharp enough to compete from the words "pitchers and catchers report." McClellan echoed that approach, suggesting that being full-go for the first few days of camp are important for a young player who may only throw for the pitching coach that first day.

It's easy to make a first impression when you've made an early impression.

"My first time in camp, the pitching coach (Duncan) was right there for my first bullpen, and it might be the only time he sees you," McClellan said. "That's the first opportunity he has to see what you've got before maybe during ‘live BP' he's got somewhere else to be. ... The first two bullpens are the first few times that everybody sees you throw. You don't want to look like you haven't been doing anything."

Weather may be the biggest draw, especially for pitchers coming from their homes in the Midwest.

Motte, who winters in Memphis, said he knew it was time to head south when the temperatures dropped. The closer spent the winter working out at the University of Memphis and its indoor baseball training facility. He threw off the Jupiter mounds for the first time Thursday, and he said getting acclimated to the weather and the dirt on the mound before formal workouts begin is a welcome head start. Lohse has already thrown off the mound twice this winter, an earlier start than in years past when his first toss off the mound was after official workouts had started.

Garcia, who threw in Florida for the first time Thursday, said arriving early gives him a chance to adjust his body clock to the morning workouts of spring training and get comfortable with a routine before the formal work begins.

Matheny saw something more than seven guys throwing Thursday.

He sensed eagerness.

"There is only one other team that played as long as these guys did last year," Matheny said. "They'd have every right to show up Saturday. You look out there and the whole starting five are there. The bulk of the bullpen is here. To me, that's exciting to see. Some of them just had the shortest offseasons of their careers and they're champing at the bit to get down here. ...

"I think there is something to read into that."