The mystery of Martinez not being ready in his first inning as a starter seemed to have been solved by having him pitch only one inning in relief. But he again will begin this season as a starter.

Shildt, however, offered that “Carlos has to prove he can come in and be built up and ready to handle the load as a starter. That evaluation will take place in spring training. I talked to him and he gave me assurances that the work has taken place and he’s going to be able to sustain six, seven, eight innings for 30-plus starts.”

Martinez has a 54-38 career record and he’s appeared in two All-Star Games, but fans and probably the Cardinals’ brass always have looked for more, from a consistency standpoint.

“You’re talking about a front-line guy or an ace,” Shildt said. But he added, not just referring to Martinez, “You (want to) know what you’re going to get and what that looks like as far as physically if they’re going to be able to do it, how mentally they’re going to be able to do it and how emotionally they’re going to be able to do it. It really gets down to focus and execution, regardless of inning or situation in really any sport.”