CHICAGO • What the Cardinals see Sunday afternoon from starter Jaime Garcia in his first rehab start could put him on the brink of returning to the majors.

Garcia, who is recovering from shoulder surgery and a setback in spring, will start Sunday’s game in Springfield, Mo., for the Cardinals’ Class AA affiliate. The lefty is scheduled to throw at least 80 pitches, and while he’ll have 30 days to complete the rehab assignment once it begins, the Cardinals believe he is much closer to rejoining to the big-league rotation. An 80-pitch start would put him at the equivalent of the penultimate start of spring, one 100-pitch outing away from being regular-season ready.

“Absolutely,” pitching coach Derek Lilliquist said. “It’s all based on what it looks like, what we’re going to be hearing from the scouts and coaches who saw him.”

The Cardinals’ lefty entered spring training hopeful that he would break with the camp, but persistent irritation within his left shoulder forced an early-spring delay. He was given an anti-inflammatory shot to attack the irritation in the joint, and he was told that he may not pitch 100 percent pain free again. Garcia expressed, at the time, a willingness to try to find a way to pitch through his new reality after shoulder surgery ended his 2013 season.