Jake Westbrook (elbow) hopes to begin a minor league rehab assignment next week. Westbrook made it through a 40-pitch bullpen session on Monday and reported feeling good after throwing 60-65 pitches off the mound on Thursday. It's not clear how many starts he'll make in the minors, but he's suddenly making encouraging progress.

Jake Westbrook (elbow) will throw a more intense bullpen session on Thursday. Westbrook was able to throw a surprise 40-pitch bullpen session on Monday and is ready to test out his elbow further. The Cardinals are hoping he'll be ready for a rehab assignment in a week or two, but he's certainly not out of the woods yet.

Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak is hopeful of Jake Westbrook (elbow) beginning a rehab assignment "in a week or two." Westbrook had been scheduled to see Dr. James Andrews on Monday but surprised everyone when he was able to throw a bullpen session instead. "Clearly, the news of him throwing [Monday] was far more encouraging than it was three or four days ago," Mozeliak said. "I think there's a lot of positive there. He feels good about where he's going."

Jake Westbrook (elbow) was able to throw a bullpen session on Monday morning and has cancelled his Tuesday appointment with Dr. James Andrews. It's a nice turn of events for the 35-year-old right-hander, who was already cleared of structural damage earlier this month by the Cardinals' medical staff and can now work toward rejoining the St. Louis starting rotation. Westbrook is still at least two weeks away, but the situation looked far grimmer just a few days ago.

Jake Westbrook will have his right elbow examined Tuesday by Dr. James Andrews. Westbrook has been cleared of structural damage by the Cardinals' medical staff but he's still being bothered by discomfort in his pitching elbow. "It's a weird deal," the veteran right-hander said this weekend. He is probably be looking at an extended absence.

Jake Westbrook (elbow) will seek a second opinion next week, likely from Dr. James Andrews. It's certainly not good news after Westbrook claimed to feel fine after playing catch on Friday. He had cut a previous bullpen session short earlier in the week due to discomfort, so there's definitely something amiss with the elbow. The Cardinals were originally hopeful he would miss the minimum 15 days, but at this point there isn't even a timetable for his return.

Jake Wesbrook (elbow) played catch on flat ground on Friday. The encouraging news is that he said his elbow felt fine afterwards. He attempted to throw a from a mound for the first time on Wednesday, but had to cut the session short after feeling lingering pain in his elbow. He's not on a specific throwing program at the moment, they'll continue to play it day-by-day based on how he's feeling. He's still not anywhere close to returning to the rotation.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Rick Hummel writes that Jake Westbrook (elbow) "does not seem to be seriously hurt but his rehabilitation program may be dialed back a little." Westbrook tried throwing from a mound Wednesday for the first time since landing on the DL but had to stop after 20 pitches due to lingering pain in his right elbow. The Cardinals don't believe he has structural damage in the elbow, but clearly he's not ready to return anytime soon. It's not clear what the next step for the right-hander is.

Jake Westbrook had to stop his bullpen session Wednesday after 20 pitches due to pain in his right elbow. Well, that's not good. Westbrook felt fine while playing catch, but this was the first time since landing on the disabled list that he tried to throw from a mound. The right-hander isn't sure what the next step is, but obviously he's not going to be back anytime soon.

Jake Westbrook (elbow) will throw off a mound on Wednesday. Westbrook had been slated to throw off the bump Tuesday, but he threw on flat ground again instead. The sinklerballer is expected to miss a couple more starts but is on track to rejoin the rotation in early June if he can avoid setbacks.