So far so good. That’s the word from Chris Carpenter before his bullpen sessions at Busch Stadium in front of team management.
The Cardinals want to take their time and not rush Carp back, but Carpenter is pretty excited about the results. Barring any setbacks from his "aggressive" 60 pitch bullpen sessions, Carpenter will continue his rehab with a simulated game down in Florida.
The team hopes to target Carpenter back up to the 80-90 pitch range, but the team could still use Carpenter out of the bullpen to start, much like they did in 2001 with Matt Morris who came back from the same type of surgery.
The thought is that it’s much easier to come back and heal after throwing 20-40 pitches as compared to 80-100 per start. The Cardinals don’t expect this to be a permanent situation. The goal will be for Carpenter to eventually get back into the starting rotation which would most likely be next year.
