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Cardinals entering the season banged up

JUPITER, Fla. — The St. Louis Cardinals placed five players on the injured list as they began to shape their roster for Thursday’s opener at the Milwaukee Brewers.

St. Louis said Monday the official reason for Brett Cecil’s designation is carpal tunnel syndrome, though the left-hander also isdealing with arm fatigue and erratic mechanics. Right-hander Carlos Martinez is out with a strained rotator cuff and reliever Luke Gregerson with a right shoulder impingement.

Jedd Gyorko will start the season on IL after dealing with a calf issue for most of March. He was hoping to be ready by opening day but will instead be out until at least April 4.

Justin Williams is on the IL with a fracture in his right hand, though the Cardinals have plenty of depth in the outfield and he will likely head to Triple-A Memphis when he’s ready to go.

Elsewhere:

n Reliever Alex Wilson and the Milwaukee Brewers have finalized a $750,000, one-year contract, a deal that includes $825,000 in performance bonuses. The 32-year-old right-hander has a 3.23 ERA in six major league seasons, the past four with Detroit. He had attended spring training with Cleveland and opted out of his deal after being told he would not make the opening-day major league roster.

n Dan Straily was released Monday by the Miami Marlins, who will give the pitcher $1,209,677 in termination pay rather than his $5 million salary. The 30-year old right-hander was 15-15 in two seasons with the Marlins, who acquired him from Cincinnati in January 2017. He was limited to 23 starts last year, when he went on the disabled list twice because of forearm and oblique strains. Straily had a 5.94 ERA over 17 innings in five spring training appearances. He is 42-36 with a 4.23 ERA in seven major league seasons.

n Greg Holland has earned the closer’s job with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Holland returned from Tommy John surgery and led the NL with 41 saves for Colorado in 2017. He was 2-2 with a 4.66 ERA with St. Louis and Washington last season, when he earned $14 million. He has a 2.83 ERA in eight major league seasons and has reached 40 saves three times. He has a 12.27 ERA in four appearances this spring training and has given up two homers in 4 innings. Holland won out over right-handers Archie Bradley and Yoshihisa Hirano. The job opened when Brad Boxberger left to sign with Kansas City.

n Cleveland is not sure whether Jose Ramirez will play in Thursday’s opener at Minnesota. The All-Star third baseman took ground balls on Monday at the Indians’ spring training complex in Arizona, a day after he fouled a pitch off the area below his left knee and left the field in a cart. The Indians said he will rejoin the team for a workout on Wednesday. Ramirez had 39 home runs and 105 RBIs last season, finishing third in AL MVP voting for the second straight year. All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor will open the season on the injury list.

n The Baltimore Orioles put scheduled opening-day starter Alex Cobb on the 10-day injured list because of a strained right groin. He likely will be replaced by Andrew Cashner for Thursday’s game at the New York Yankees. Cobb’s last spring training was cut short after one inning Saturday because of the groin.

n The Kansas City Royals selected the contract of first baseman Lucas Duda from Triple-A Omaha and waived outfielder Brian Goodwin on Monday as they continued to shape their opening day roster. Duda attended spring training with Minnesota on a minor league contract, was released last week and signed a minor league deal with the Royals on Friday. He hit .242 with 13 homers and 48 RBIs in 87 games for the Royals last season and was traded to Atlanta in August. Duda appeared in 20 games down the stretch, hitting .222 with a homer and two RBIs.

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