Cardinals' Peralta Could Miss 2-3 Months

St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Jhonny Peralta could miss 2-3 months because of a left thumb injury, GM John Mozeliak told reporters Monday.

Peralta suffered the injury on Saturday and underwent an MRI. Mozeliak said the initial results the MRI were "not positive," saying early indications are that Peralta has a torn ligament.

"We have some history with this with Yadi (Yadier Molina)," Mozeliak told reporters. "We've got to determine what this next step looks like."

Peralta left Cardinals camp earlier Monday in street clothes to undergo further testing.

Peralta, 33, batted .275 with 17 homers and 71 RBIs last season.

Mozeliak said the Cardinals will wait for the results of Peralta's second opinion before deciding whether to pursue outside help at shortstop.

"The outcome of the second opinion will dictate whether we have to look outside," Mozeliak told reporters. "Right now it would be all hands on deck unless there was an outside solution we would consider."

Jedd Gyorko, who hit 16 homers with 57 RBIs for the Padres last season, is starting at shortstop in Monday's spring game against the Mets. Gyorko played 29 games at shortstop last season in San Diego.

Mozeliak also listed Greg Garcia and Aledmys Diaz as other in-house options for the shortstop position.

Cubs Working On Bullpen

There may be no better compliment paid to the back end of a bullpen than when it’s said: "The game is over after six innings." The world champion Kansas City Royals' bullpen has been described that way. The upstart Chicago Cubs' bullpen is trying to establish the same kind of identity. They’re not quite there, but they believe they are an underrated group.

“The numbers aren’t that much different, but I feel like their guys have been consistent for so long,” reliever Justin Grimm said Monday before the Cubs played the Royals in a spring game. “We’re starting to show that. We should get some publicity for that, but I try not to compare -- it’s about showing up to be there for your team.”

The Royals' bullpen ranked second in baseball with a 2.72 ERA in 2015, while the Cubs' bullpen was eighth at 3.38. The Royals were first in batting average against, while the Cubs ranked sixth. Most statistics are similar, but a closer look at moments late in games reveals that the Cubs were, in fact, every bit as good as the Royals.

Though it’s a much harder comparison to make across leagues, in innings 7-9 both bullpens had the same WHIP (1.16), and Chicago had more strikeouts per nine innings (8.89 to 8.51), fewer walks (2.74 to 3.05) and fewer home runs (0.73 to 0.87). Kansas City had the better overall ERA (3.32 to 3.01) and both teams blew about the same number of saves (20 to 19), but the Cubs aren’t known for their bullpen, while the Royals have several household names.

“They just exemplify it better than anyone else,” manager Joe Maddon said. “They’ve demonstrated it over the last couple of years.”

White Sox, Jackson Agree To Deal

The White Sox bolstered their outfield depth when free agent Austin Jackson agreed to a $5 million, one-year contract Sunday.

White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said the addition of Jackson gives manager Robin Ventura more flexibility on offense and defense. The team announced the move Sunday night after Jackson completed a physical.

"We're a better team tonight than we were this morning," Hahn said in Glendale, Arizona.

Hahn said Jackson will be in camp Monday morning, though it might be a week before he plays in a regular spring training game.

Jackson played for Seattle and the Chicago Cubs last season, batting .267 with nine homers and 48 RBIs in 136 games. He is a .273 hitter with 55 homers, 296 RBIs and 106 steals in 860 career games.

The 29-year-old Jackson has played mostly center field during his six seasons in the majors. The returning White Sox outfielders are Melky Cabrera in left, Adam Eaton in center and Avisail Garcia in right, plus reserve J.B. Shuck.

Monday, March 7 Scoreboard

Spring Training Scores

Minnesota 3, Baltimore 0

Tampa Bay 3, Boston 2 (F/10)

Houston 1, New York Yankees 0

Washington 7, Miami 4

Philadelphia 1, Pittsburg 0
    
St. Louis 9, New York Mets 4

Toronto 3, Atlanta 1

New York Mets 7, Detroit 3

San Diego 8, Milwaukee 2

Oakland 6, Kansas City 4

Texas 6, San Francisco 5

Kansas City 3, Chicago  Cubs 2

Cincinnati 8, Los Angeles Angels 5

Cleveland 8, Los Angeles Dodgers 5

Chicago White Sox 9, Los Angeles Angels 4

Arizona 10, Seattle 8

Colorado 4, Chicago Cubs 2

        
Tuesday, March 8 Schedule (All Times Central)

Boston at Baltimore, 12:05 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Detroit, 12:05 p.m.

St. Louis at Minnesota, 12:05 p.m.

New York at Atlanta, 12:05 p.m.

Washington at Houston, 12:05 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Philadelphia, 12:05 p.m.

New York at Miami, 12:05 p.m.

Minnesota at Toronto, 12:07 p.m.

Milwaukee at Chicago, 2:05 p.m.

Seattle at Cleveland, 2:05 p.m.

Colorado at Kansas City, 2:05 p.m.

Texas at Oakland, 2:05 p.m.

Los Angeles at Chicago, 2:05 p.m.

Arizona at San Diego, 2:10 p.m.

Los Angeles at Arizona, 5:10 p.m.

Cincinnati at San Francisco, 8:05 p.m.