"During his one conversation this winter with new manager Mike Matheny, St. Louis Cardinals infielder Tyler Greene received one new set of marching orders for his offseason.

Take some grounders at second base, Matheny suggested to the lifelong shortstop.

The reason became more obvious Saturday when general manager John Mozeliak suggested that Greene will get "a strong opportunity" to be the starter at second base. Also in the mix will be Daniel Descalso and Skip Schumaker.

"I have a little more experience on the left side," Greene said this afternoon during the first day of the annual Winter Warm-up. "I've spent a lot of time at second this offseason, getting reps."

Greene was a first-round pick in 2005 as an All-American shortstop from George Tech.

He will start spring training out of options, meaning the Cardinals cannot pass him back to Class AAA Memphis without first offering to other teams through the waivers process. Greene, 28, hit .323 with a .422 on-base percentage and a .579 slugging percentage last season at Triple-A. As a regular in the lineup at shortstop, Greene hit 14 homers, had 35 extra-base hits and drove in 43 RBIs in 66 games at Memphis."