Cardinals' Paul Goldschmidt: Elbow much better after layoff

Goldschmidt, who was present for the Cardinals' first day of summer camp Friday, reports his previously sore right elbow is feeling much better following the long layoff, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports. "I was able to take some time off and give it some rest and get treatment on it for awhile," Goldschmidt said during a video conference at Busch Stadium on Friday. "It's 100 percent now. I'm not sure if it would have been if we rolled right into the season. Hopefully that's one positive, personally."

The extended suspension of all official baseball activities carried a silver lining for several injured players, with Goldschmidt one prominent example. The 32-year-old remained in South Florida for the last three months, which not only gave him access to the Cardinals' spring training facility in Jupiter for treatment, but also enabled him to work out with the likes of Giancarlo Stanton, Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer. The fact he was able to get at-bats against two of the game's elite pitchers should certainly have him ready to jump back into batting practice against his own team's pitchers.