ST. LOUIS -- Ever the optimist, Cardinals veteran pitcher Adam Wainwright believes the groin strain that caused him to start his final MLB season on the injured list could turn out to be a blessing over the course of the long season. He said the time off has helped him improve the overall conditioning of his body.

The 41-year-old Wainwright, who has already announced plans to retire at the end of the season, suffered a strain of the groin/adductor muscle on March 21 and has yet to pitch this season. Prior to that injury, Wainwright was bothered by back soreness and a weakness in his left leg caused by a round of back spasms that hit before Spring Training -- issues he’s been able to work on while waiting for his lower-body injury to heal.

When Wainwright takes the mound at Busch Stadium on Friday and faces hitters for the first time in weeks, he is confident that he will be a different pitcher than the one who struggled with command and velocity concerns early in Spring Training.

“My arm feels good, much better than it did in Spring Training,” admitted Wainwright, who needs five wins to get to 200 for his career. “My leg feels good, my back’s feeling better and this has been a good time for me. I didn’t want to admit that I needed a little [injury list] time, and I didn’t hurt myself on purpose, I promise, but sometimes things happen for a reason. This has given me a chance to get better and more prepared for the season.”

Over the past two weeks, Wainwright has thrown bullpen sessions of 28, 33 and 40 pitches to try and keep his arm sharp while his lower-body injury heals. He is expected to throw approximately 50 pitches on Friday while facing Cardinals hitters in a simulated game. If that session goes well, Wainwright said he will likely make a Minor League rehab start next week as he works his way back toward returning for the Cards.

“I’m going to pitch to hitters [on Friday], which is a good step forward because I’ve been pitching to imaginary hitters for two weeks, so I’m ready to face somebody real,” he said.

Wainwright said the time away has allowed him to rebuild the strength in his legs and greatly improve the velocity on his sinker and four-seam fastball. Early in Spring Training, when Wainwright was pitching through a cut on his right index finger and the leg weakness, his fastball was in the low-to-mid 80s and he was hit hard at times. He eventually got two wins for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, but he injured his groin while working out in the weight room before Team USA faced Japan in the WBC title game.

Now, three-plus weeks later, Wainwright said he feels like a completely different pitcher than the one who dealt with a variety of ailments in Spring Training.

“Seemingly, we’re in a good spot there [with the velocity on his pitches] and on a good climb,” said Wainwright, who hosted a group from Action for Autism dubbed as “Wainwright’s Winners” at Thursday’s game. “Sitting there at 83-84 [mph] is not where I need to be. I can do some things to make it work OK, be tricky and spin the ball a lot, but I would much prefer to not have to do that. So, my [velocity] should be up from where it was a few weeks ago.

“There were a lot of [injury] things that were in play when I was pitching in Spring Training. I came in and there was some musculature in my left leg that was not working after my low back had shut some stuff down. I couldn’t stick that front leg and throw against it, and it’s really hard to get much on your pitches when that is happening. Hopefully, we will have gotten that ironed out and I’ll be better.”