JUPITER, Fla. — Cardinals starter Jack Flaherty, almost a year removed from his opening day start for the club, will miss the start of this regular season after having treatment Friday for a small tear in his right shoulder.

Flaherty traveled to Los Angeles to have a second review of his sore shoulder and while there had a PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma) injection to stimulate healing, said John Mozeliak, president of baseball operations. The righthander has a “small” SLAP tear where the shoulder meets the biceps.

The injection Thursday means Flaherty will go two weeks without throwing, and he will start the season on the injured list.

Flaherty has pitched the past four seasons with a SLAP tear and it has not changed in size, a source confirmed to the Post Dispatch. The treatment he had should help reduce the inflammation in the joint that is causing discomfort.

Flaherty has said throughout the process how he feels “good.”

The Cardinals plan to put together a recovery plan and treatment plan closer to his return to throwing and once they can see how the shoulder reacts to Thursday’s approach.

Flaherty traveled to Los Angeles to meet with Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the Dodgers’ head physician and a physician many teams turn to for shoulder ailments. It was there that the PRP injection was administered.

Flaherty’s absence flings open a spot in the rotation for a handful of pitchers in major-league camp and prompts the Cardinals to continue discussions outside the organization. Mozeliak described the free-agent market for starters as thinning over the past several days, and the Cardinals have found other teams asking for their top prospects in exchange for available starters.

Mozeliak specifically mentioned Jake Woodford and Matthew Liberatore as candidates to pitch their way into the rotation to start the season.

Drew VerHagen and Aaron Brooks, who struck out five of the six batters he faced Friday, are other internal candidates.

“For me, it’s wide open,” manager Oliver Marmol said of the competition.

Alex Reyes has been diagnosed with a frayed labrum and will be out until at least late May or early June, Mozeliak confirmed. Reyes has been prescribed at least two weeks without throwing following an injection of stem cells to the area this past week.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.