While it's unclear at this point whether St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Chris Carpenter will be healthy enough to pitch on Opening Day, Cardinals GM John Mozeliak told MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch that the team is preparing alternative options now.
Preparations are beginning to be made, though, in case Carpenter isn't ready to go in early April. Mozeliak said that the club has plans to begin stretching another pitcher out this week. He did not identify who that pitcher would be, noting that he wanted to first make sure that the individual has been notified of the organization's new plans.
Right now, St. Louis has four different relievers with significant past experience in the starting rotation: Marc Rzepczynski, Lance Lynn, Kyle McClellan and Mitchell Boggs. Any of those guys could potentially shift back to starting in order to replace Carpenter in the short-term.
Langosch also speculates that Brandon Dickson, a 27-year-old that posted a 3.95 ERA in 25 Triple-A starts last year, or Shelby Miller, one of the best prospects in the sport, could emerge as a possibility.
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