Fri 5/24/13 8:49 PM

Chris Carpenter (shoulder, neck) threw a successful bullpen session on Friday. The Cardinals are considering allowing Carpenter to throw to live hitters on Tuesday as the next step in his recovery. While he remains a tremendous re-injury risk, it looks like he's making tangible progress toward returning to the Cardinals' rotation. Assuming no setbacks, he could return to the mound near the end of June.