The lefty was able to return to the mound late in spring training, but his recovery from throwing has been erratic. He has not had a consistent stretch where he’s felt good, and Mozeliak described it as “not the healthy treadmill you want to be on.” Cooney has been prescribed rest, and then he’ll restart a throwing program.

With the two lefties absent from the Class AAA rotation, the Cardinals have started three players who weren’t with the organization last season and a fourth who was an undrafted free agent. There isn’t the surefire No. 6 starter if one of the big-league starters falters. In mid-May, top prospect Alex Reyes will return from suspension and be available if needed.

“It’s definitely not where we thought we would be,” Mozeliak said. “So when you look at what we have going on in Memphis it’s not as strong as we thought we were going to be. That’s not to say we’re in a panic mode by any means. It’s in the back of our minds that we have somebody like Alex Reyes in a month or two who could be available.”

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