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Cardinals' Wainwright tosses 1st bullpen session since suffering abdominal strain

Steve Mitchell / USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright unloaded more than 30 pitches at his team's spring training complex Monday morning in his first bullpen session since straining an abdominal muscle one week ago.

"My arm feels great," Wainwright told Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com. "My body is in the perfect position to throw the ball. It's getting better each time. … I was very happy with where my pitches were. I kept the ball down for the most part; that's what I was working on today, staying knees and below. I worked sides. I worked pitches. The changeup has come a long way. I'm going to throw more than one a game this year."

Wainwright was prescribed several days of rest after being diagnosed with an abdominal strain Thursday in St. Louis, but received clearance to throw off a mound from team trainers before Monday's session. Though he was instructed to suspend his running and weightlifting temporarily, Wainwright's injury won't affect his throwing schedule too dramatically.

"We are progressing our training-room stuff each and every time we go in there," Wainwright. "They had me do a little lunge, which is dramatically better than a few days ago."

(Courtesy: @LangoschMLB)

Wainwright will next need to face hitters in live batting practice before making his Grapefruit League debut, but Matheny declined to speculate about when that might happen. The 33-year-old will likely need three or four spring starts to be sufficiently prepared for the regular season. 

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