Garcia had surgery last may to repair a tear in his labrum and extensive damage to his rotator cuff, the more serious of the two injuries.

He had what Mozeliak called "a seamless" recovery and rehab over the winter. But the lefty began experiencing renewed but familiar discomfort in the shoulder after a bullpen session here at spring training.

Mozeliak did not rule out having a discussion about Garcia's role.

The question the team will have to answer is whether the reduction of innings from a starter role will be beneficial to the lefty vs. whether he can pitch on back-to-back days as a reliever. Mozeliak said that topic will have to be explored as Garcia finds a way to contribute through his shoulder condition.

"The key is how does he respond," Mozeliak said. "Obviously he's not going to be thrown into that live BP or game action today, so it will be some baby steps. Until he takes that next step we're not going to know where he falls on the (spectrum) of when. The way to look at it is really day-to-day and see where he ends up. ...

"I don't know the answer (on a role change). From a volume standpoint there might be some logic there. But the the counter-intuitive part there is can he go back-to-back? That's the part that I couldn't answer today."

A message from Derrick Goold Pitchers and catchers report one day a year. We cover the rest. Wherever baseball takes us, The Post-Dispatch and STLtoday.com will bring you there with unmatched year-round, 24-hour, and award-winning coverage of the Cardinals and Major League Baseball. Subscribe today: Just $1 a month

Keep up with the latest Cardinals coverage from our award-winning team of reporters and columnists. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.