Wellemeyer competes for Cards' rotation

~ The pitcher tries to shake his reliever label.

JUPITER, Fla. -- St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Todd Wellemeyer is vying for one of two early openings at the bottom of the rotation.

He sees the opportunity as Chris Carpenter and Mark Mulder recuperate from surgery and Matt Clement rebuilds arm strength after recovering from surgery.

Wellemeyer, 29, made his major-league debut with the Chicago Cubs in 2003, and remained a long relief pitcher for a little more than four seasons before the Cardinals claimed him off waivers from Kansas City on May 15, 2007.

He had spent three years as a regular starter in the Cubs' minor-league system before his promotion.

St. Louis gave him 11 starts last year. He was 3-1 with a 3.65 ERA. The team also won nine of those contests.

Injuries to Cardinal pitchers helped him into that position, and now Wellemeyer has to battle with Anthony Reyes and Brad Thompson to fill out the rotation.

"I'm glad I finally got to a manager who actually saw me as a starter," Wellemeyer said. "My three years in Chicago, I had no chance. I'd be primed to get a start, and they would always just bring somebody up if somebody got hurt, and I would just sit there. I got there by being a starter, and since I was there, somebody labeled me as a reliever. I just wanted at least one start."

Wellemeyer has worked on being more attractive as a starting pitcher, developing a curveball and two-seam fastball. He now has two fastballs, two changeups, a slider and a curveball.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said Wellemeyer is very much part of the competition for a start. He said he's impressed with his shape, concentration and desire.