Cards appear Rolen-less

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Cardinals are preparing for the NL championship series without Scott Rolen, although they hesitated to make an official decision Monday.

"He's got a sprain in several places and it's very painful," manager Tony La Russa said before the team worked out. "It's a lot to expect that it's not going to be a couple of weeks before he gets ready, and it's a lot to expect a club to play with four bench guys in a National League-type game.

"So, we're not too optimistic."

Trainer Barry Weinberg took that another step.

"We haven't ruled him out yet, not completely," Weinberg said. "Almost."

Rolen, who had 31 home runs, 110 RBIs and batted .266 this season, wasn't optimistic, either.

"My range of motion is a lot better," Rolen said between visits to the training room. "The pain is still not out of there."

The Cardinals will play either the San Francisco Giants or Atlanta Braves in the NLCS opener Wednesday.

Rolen sprained his left shoulder Thursday in Game 2 of the division series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Weinberg said Rolen has improved and was able to give him a high-five Monday.

"So, that's improvement," Weinberg said. "But judging right now, we're not very optimistic about him playing. We'll get him treated and see how he is tomorrow."

Weinberg said it's difficult to say how long it will take Rolen to recover.

"It's not a traditional injury," Weinberg said. "Instead of asking the recovery time, you kind of, at the end, say this is how long it took. Each day you see how he progresses.

"Normal things have to become normal first, and then baseball stuff has to become normal."

The Cardinals would use either Miguel Cairo or Albert Pujols at third base if Rolen can't play. Cairo was 4-for-4 against Arizona and had the game-winning hit in Game 2 and two RBIs in Game 3 as the Cardinals swept the series.

Pujols split time between third base and left field before Rolen was acquired from Philadelphia in July. Since then, Pujols has spent most of his time in the outfield and La Russa put him there in Game 3 of the first-round sweep of the Diamondbacks to allow him to better concentrate on hitting.

"I don't think it's a big difference," La Russa said. "I remember games when both he and Cairo started, and Cairo played left field and Albert played third base."

If Pujols plays third base, the Cardinals could use Eli Marrero, who had 18 homers and 66 RBIs, in the outfield.

"I lean towards looking at all the alternatives and doing what gives us our best chance," La Russa said.

Williams may start

Game 2 of NLCS

It appears likely the St. Louis Cardinals will give Woody Williams, who missed the NL division series with a pulled muscle in his left side, another shot at starting in the NLCS.

Williams threw 20 to 25 pitches from the mound Sunday, the day after the Cardinals wrapped up their first-round sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and played catch on Monday. He could get a start as early as Game 2 of the NLCS on Thursday, so the Cardinals can quickly find out if his injury has healed.

Williams hinted as much when he said there was no time for another bullpen outing to get an update on his health.

Manager Tony La Russa said the team would wait until Wednesday, the morning of Game 1, before finalizing their roster for the playoffs' second round. But he indicated that Williams, 9-4 with a 2.53 ERA in 17 starts between stints on the disabled list for the side injury, had a better chance than third baseman Scott Rolen of being on the roster because the Cardinals will carry 12 pitchers.