#Cardinals embarassment of pitching riches only grows

Jaime Garcia is reportedly on the same schedule as other pitchers in spring training.

I had gathered this would be the case from what Bernie Miklasz was saying before the turn of the year, but Goold's confirmation is nice. 

Yes, Garcia has an injury history, but, his attempts to deal with it kind of make it look worse than it might have been otherwise:

The lefty, who won 13 games in back-to-back seasons and finished third in 2010’s NL rookie of the year voting, had his season ended last May by shoulder surgery that was a couple of years in the making. Garcia pitched through the injury in 2012, and he reported to spring training a year ago having attempted a non-surgical rehab for the joint. ...

Throughout the 2012 season, Garcia had discomfort in the shoulder, and he acknowledged Monday that he fiddled with his mechanics because he couldn’t find a comfortable arm slot that season. He had difficulty regaining strength after starts. His pitches, at times, felt flat, weak. He stopped throwing bullpen sessions. He couldn’t play catch without pain, but the pain did fade when he took the mound for a start. He was able to rehab and re-strengthen the shoulder in the offseason and pitched successfully through last March and April. Then the pain returned. 

If Garcia can perform as well as 2011, at least, he's another option at the back end of the rotation, and lets them bring Michael Wacha along a bit more slowly this year, and give Shelby Miller a bit of rest, too. And, a lefty in the rotation is never bad.

This also lets John Mozeliak consider more trade options. Garcia could go on the block at some point. Or Lance Lynn. That would then let Carlos Martinez start working into the rotation.

That said, it's probably bad news, as far as a back-up, for Tyler Lyons, John Gast and Joe Kelly.

But, that gives Mo yet more trade options.