JUPITER, Fla. – Just three weeks ahead of the new season, injuries are mounting for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Sonny Gray, the team’s biggest offseason signing, went down Monday with a hamstring strain that puts him at risk of missing Opening Day. The severity of his injury was pretty apparent as it happened. For two fellow teammates, that wasn’t the case.

Lars Nootbaar and Tommy Edman, two players expected to handle starting outfield duties this season, have both suffered setbacks from ongoing issues.

Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak offered these updates in a pregame chat with media members Friday…

Nootbaar suffered two fractures in his ribs after chasing and twisting a fly ball on Saturday. It led to lingering soreness that has kept him out of spring games since then. He will not see the field or swing for the next two weeks, though the team is cautiously optimistic he’ll be ready come Opening Day.

Edman, who had yet to play a game after offseason wrist surgery, is behind schedule in his recovery and considered “doubtful” for Opening Day.

Gray still does not have a firm timetable in his recovery from a mild hamstring strain, an injury which usually takes around three weeks to recover in best case scenarios.

Mozeliak stated earlier in the week that he did not envision the Cardinals looking outside the organization for pitching help for now. It seems a similar mindset is in place for the position players.

Dylan Carlson and Alec Burleson are likely to see increased opportunities in the outfield while Nootbaar and Edman remain out. The injuries also represent an opportunity for one of the team’s top prospects, speedster Victor Scott, to make a statement and possibly break spring camp with the big-league roster.

Mozeliak told MLB.com’s John Denton on that possibility, “I think we have to be a little more patient with that. Clearly, he’s opened up some eyes early on, but we have three weeks of camp left. So, there’s a lot of time to still make some judgements and decisions and we’ll see how things go.”

The Cardinals open the 2024 season with a March 28 road matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers.