Time is running out for Oscar Taveras to earn himself a spot on the Opening Day roster of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Taveras has been hampered by tightness in his right hamstring.

"It's not possible without him being healthy," Mike Matheny said when asked about Taveras still being considered for a roster spot. "He needed to come in and have everything go right in order for that to be a possibility. It's definitely something that's holding him up.

"We kept saying that we needed to see him healthy before we could make any determination. We say the same thing right now. We just thought we had crossed that hurdle and hopefully were where we could just watch him play on a consistent basis. Now we're held up again."

Taveras also had to convince the Cardinals that he trusted the stability of his surgically-repaired right ankle.