Cardinals’ manager Tony LaRussa addressed his players before their first official workout in Jupiter, Florida and then all but one hit the field…that was third basemen Troy Glaus.

He showed up at the Cardinals Winter Warm-up in early January and dropped a bomb on the team by announcing he needed shoulder surgery.  His rest and rehab over the winter did not help his ailing shoulder that he hurt late in the season, and the only option was exploratory surgery since no MRI showed any damage.

It’s been four weeks and Glaus has not even picked up a ball yet and can’t put a timetable on his return.  The Cardinals are optimistically shooting for an early May return.   LaRussa was optimistic saying he knows he’ll have Glaus for the bulk of the season and is looking at the spring as a chance to see who will fill Glaus’ shoes and then become a good backup option once Glaus returns. 

The guy who may have the jump on that position is David Freese who came over to the organization in the trade with San Diego for Jim Edmonds.  Tony will also give a look to Brian Barden and Brendan Ryan. 

Good news for Chris Carpenter.  He threw his fourth session and continues to move forward following his elbow surgery.  He stepped up the intensity and threw for 20 minutes (his longest session) and was more concerned with not hitting his spots than any soreness.  Carpenter remains on schedule to appear in his first Grapefruit League game on the 28th against Washington.   He has still not faced hitters yet.  That could come this Friday.