Will he immediately reassume his role as the team’s ace? That’s hard to say, because pitchers recovering from Tommy John surgery generally take 12-to-18 months to fully bounce back, so while Wainwright is on schedule to return this spring, how long will it take him to completely recover his velocity, command and feel of his pitches? That remains an unknown, but it’s obvious the Cardinals are bullish on a full and speedy recover, picking up both his 2012 and 2013 options right after the World Series.