The St. Louis Cardinals will have to wait a little bit longer to remember what The World According to Carp looks like.
According to a report by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Thursday, Cardinals infielder Matt Carpenter, who has been dealing with a back issue, is still not game-ready for hitting and is about 10 days away from being cleared to swing in-game.
Matt Carpenter, not yet game-ready for hitting, is about 10 days from being cleared to swing in game. Cage full strength Monday. #cardinals
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) March 9, 2017
The 31-year-old Carpenter was scratched from Grapefruit League action exactly a week ago with stiffness in the back, and his slow progress since then is slightly concerning with the Cardinals set to open the season in just 24 days.
Carpenter, who batted .271/.380/.505 with 21 home runs and 68 RBIs for St. Louis last season and made his third All-Star team in four years, is expected to be their everyday first baseman in 2017. The back injury also forced him to withdraw from the World Baseball Classic, so the Cards will cross their fingers that Carpenter doesn’t suffer any setbacks between now and Opening Day.
Image via FOX Sports Midwest on YouTube
