Jaime Garcia's shoulder continues to improve

St. Louis Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia is throwing off the mound again as his rehab from a shoulder injury continues. - (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

St. Louis Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia has not appeared on the mound in a Cardinals uniform since May 26th.

While Garcia still isn't close to returning to game action, he is throwing pitches from the mound at Busch Stadium once again.

According to St. Louis Cardinals official team website, Garcia threw pitches off a mound twice earlier this week and was scheduled to do so once again on Saturday.

Garcia told Jennifer Langosch and Mike Still of MLB.com that he can definitely feel that the shoulder is feeling better.

"The shoulder, I can definitely feel a difference. That's good. I'm excited. I'm confident that this is going to work. There's no discomfort, and it feels [looser] in there. It's kind of early for me to say too much about it, but so far what I've done feels good and I feel better."

Garcia's excitement is certainly encouraging, but the lefty has a long way to go before he is back in the Cardinals starting rotation.

The Cardinals could really, really use a healthy and effective Jaime Garcia in the rotation as they approach the home stretch and heated division battle in the National League Central.

Garcia is just 3-4 on the year with a 4.48 ERA, but his return would not only give the Cardinals a left-handed presence in the rotation, but also help make the pitching staff deeper. Garcia's return would like move rookie Joe Kelly to the bullpen, where Kelly could help manager Mike Matheny solve the team's issues in the seventh inning.

But Garcia must not be rushed back. The Cardinals have made quite an investment in Garcia so he needs to be healthy when he returns. Garcia also needs to be healthy for his own mental cause. Garcia tends to get in his own head on occasion and if everything is not feeling right for Garcia upstairs, he likely won't be effective on the hill.

Garcia's advancement of his throwing program is encouraging and the Cardinals could sure use him soon. But let's temper expectations as the road back for Garcia is still very long.