Results tagged ‘ Matt Holliday ’
Friday tidbits: Holliday, Greene and more
Hello from what, for my money, is the best ballpark in America.
* Matt Holliday worked out pretty extensively this morning, and sounded like he hopes to play Sunday. TLR sounded less enthusiastic about that possibility but didn’t rule it out. There’s something going up on the site about this very topic as I write though, so be sure to check it out for more details.
* Tyler Greene got his first start of the year today, but it might not be his last this series. There’s a possibility he’ll play on Sunday against Barry Zito.
* Meanwhile David Freese is playing today and will play Sunday, but could also go Saturday as well. That would mark his first time playing three straight this year, something TLR has said they don’t intend to do much in the early going. If it’s not Freese tomorrow night, it would be Descalso at 3B against Matt Cain.
* The Cardinals will stay on rotation in Phoenix, going with Kyle McClellan on Monday and Chris Carpenter on Tuesday, rather than moving Carpenter up to his fifth day and bumping McClellan back.
* Tomorrow’s game will start at 9:05 p.m. CT, not the 8:05 time originally listed. The Giants will receive their World Series rings prior to the game.
And, finally, the playlist is a Bay Area special (but no Train):
Sly and the Family Stone, “Dance to the Music”
Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Fortunate Son”
Big Brother and the Holding Company, “Piece of My Heart”
Jefferson Airplane, “Somebody to Love”
Grateful Dead, “Truckin’”
-M.
Holliday getting closer
I’ll flesh this out in a little while, but we were just told by Cards media relations that the plan is for Matt Holliday to have a “full workout and BP” today, and depending on how that goes, they’ll make a decision on a next step.
That doesn’t guarantee anything, of course, but it is at the least good news, and jibes with TLR’s statements last week that they expected Holliday back more than a couple of days before 15 days. Today marks eight days since he had the procedure.
I’ll have more on the site, and likely on the blog, later this afternoon.
-M.
Wednesday tidbits: Punto, Holliday, Boggs, Greene, etc
* Nick Punto will be headed to Florida when the Cardinals leave town for the West Coast. He’ll work out with the extended Spring Training folks for a few days, and could start playing EST games as soon as Monday.
* Matt Holliday continues to get closer. He ran on the field today and took some swings.
* Mitchell Boggs warmed up last night and would have come in the game in the 8th if the pitcher’s spot had come up in the bottom of the seventh. TLR said he’d still prefer to get Boggs one or two more low-leverage outings before really throwing him in the fire, but if the games don’t allow that, then the games don’t allow it.
* Tyler Greene will likely get a start over the weekend in San Francisco. He would play 2B against either Jonathan Sanchez on Friday or Barry Zito on Sunday. Greene is the only Cardinal hitter who has not started a game.
* ESPN announced that former Cardinal Mark Mulder will be doing some work on Baseball Tonight.
* Though TLR said yesterday that David Freese could have started today, in the end it was Daniel Descalso who got the call at 3B. The plan all along has been for Freese to play two out of three in the early going, so this isn’t a setback but rather just a case of staying with the plan.
And, finally, the playlist:
Letters to Cleo, “From Under the Dust”
New Order, “Elegia”
The Knife, “Neverland”
Nina Gordon, “Horses in the City”
R.E.M., “Gardening At Night”
-M.
Tuesday tidbits: No DL for Holliday
Greetings from Busch Stadium on an absolutely gorgeous day. There are almost no clouds in the sky, the temperature reads 63 degrees on the signs in the bullpens and it appears we’re in for a very nice evening for baseball. And now on with the tidbits…
* Matt Holliday will not, for now, go on the disabled list. The club expects that he will be back before 15 days are up, and in fact more than a day or two before 15 days are up. So they’re going to play short in the interim. Holliday has done some running and throwing, and could swing a bat tomorrow.
* Gerald Laird is in for Yadier Molina, but it’s a scheduled day off for Molina. He suffered no significant ill effects from being jammed on a pitch last night.
* TLR said that there are no longer any real plans to go to 13 pitchers for the road trip. That idea was pretty much scuttled when Holliday became unavailable.
* The rotation has been announced for the start of the road trip, and it’s as expected. They’ll just roll the guys over: Westbrook on Friday against Jonathan Sanchez, Garcia against Matt Cain on Saturday and Lohse against Barry Zito on Sunday.
* David Freese may play tomorrow, which wouldn’t seem all that newsworthy except that it would be three straight games — something La Russa suggested was unlikely to happen much in the first couple months of the season.
And, finally, the playlist. It’s a themed one, all Nirvana in honor of the 17th anniversary of Kurt Cobain’s death.
“School”
“Come As You Are”
“Breed”
“Heart Shaped Box”
“Where Did You Sleep Last Night”
-M.
Monday tidbits: Holliday speaks
* A clearly still recovering Matt Holliday spoke to reporters in the clubhouse on Monday afternoon. Though his spirits were good and his sense of humor was certainly intact, it was not at all hard to tell that Holliday had undergone a medical procedure recently. He should be fine before long, but he had the look and sound of someone recuperating.
Holliday told us that he has asked the club to keep him off the disabled list if at all possible, and as of now he has not been DL’d. He’s hoping to accompany the Cardinals on their upcoming western road trip. I’ll have a story on all of this on the site before too terribly long.
* Jaime Garcia was named co-Player of the Week in the National League along with Starlin Castro for his shutout yesterday.
* Nick Punto continues to come along well. He participated in pretty much all of the afternoon work, and said he’s feeling quite good. Once he’s cleared to play, he’ll still need a bit of time on a Minor League rehab, since he’s taken exactly zero at-bats against anybody other than his teammates all spring.
* It’s not the nicest day at the ballpark — the sign in the bullpen currently reads 46 degrees — but there’s no rain, the sun is threatening to poke through in a few places and it appears we’re going to get a game in.
* Mitchell Boggs is likely not live tonight if they can avoid it, and ideally TLR would prefer not to use Jason Motte either. But Motte is more in play than Boggs.
* The Cardinals still have yet to announce their starters for the weekend in San Francisco, but the best guess is they’ll just roll everybody over, so it would be Westbrook on Friday, Garcia on Saturday and Lohse on Sunday.
* Gerald Laird will likely get a start either tomorrow or Wednesday, which would leave Tyler Greene as the only non-pitcher on the roster not to start a game.
* As I noted in the lineup post, the pitcher is back in the No. 9 hole today. TLR explained that one factor in that decision is the availability of a hitter who is a good fit to hit seventh. He wouldn’t mind hitting Schumaker ninth, he said. But that would leave Yadier Molina batting seventh, and La Russa has been consistent in expressing his desire to have a faster runner than Molina in front of the pitcher’s spot.
And, finally, the playlist:
Cold War Kids, “Royal Blue”
Radiohead, “Lotus Flower”
R.E.M., “Discoverer”
Telekinesis, “Please Ask For Help”
Buffalo Tom, “Guilty Girls”
-M.
Saturday tidbits: Holliday follow-up and an anniversary
It’s shaping up to be a gorgeous day in downtown St. Louis. Already into the 60s, and only a few clouds.
* The Cardinals are going to wait until Monday or Tuesday before deciding whether to place Matt Holliday on the DL. And yes, per TLR, it’s a question of whether they make a move, not when or what exactly the move will be. There’s still some hope that Holliday could be back in under 15 days, and if they felt confident that would be the case, it’s no guarantee that they’d make a move.
* In the interim, both the 4 spot and left field will be something of a job share. As you saw in today’s lineup, Allen Craig is playing left field while David Freese is batting fourth. Craig and Jon Jay will likely split time in left field. As for the cleanup spot, it looks like Freese against lefties and Lance Berkman against right-handers.
* Today is the 10th anniversary of Albert Pujols’ Major League debut. I’ll have a story on the site about it a little later today, so do be sure to come back and check it out. Should be a nifty little package.
And, finally, the playlist:
Soul Coughing, “Soundtrack to Mary”
Belly, “Feed the Tree”
Cake, “When You Sleep”
Violent Femmes, “Prove My Love”
R.E.M., “Exhuming McCarthy”
-M.
Wednesday workout tidbits, and Opening Day lineup
First, the lineup for tomorrow:
1. Theriot SS
2. Rasmus CF
3. Pujols 1B
4. Holliday LF
5. Berkman RF
6. Freese 3B
7. Molina C
8. Schumaker 2B
9. Carpenter P
As for the tidbits…
* Brian Tallet should be fully available tomorrow.
* Same goes for Matt Holliday. TLR said he had no real concerns about Holliday’s sore right big toe, and Holliday participated fully.
* Bryan Augenstein is wearing No. 22. He wore No. 44 in Arizona, but that’s taken by Miguel Batista, and he said that 22 is also a tribute to his high school pitching coach, George Estock, who passed away last fall. Estock wore 22 for the Braves in his only big league season, 1951.
* Kyle McClellan will have some kind of throw on Friday in advance of his first game, which will be Tuesday at home against the Pirates. He does not expect to face hitters, but he’ll get some work.
* TLR wasn’t giving much away about anything going forward. He did say that Daniel Descalso will be his primary backup option at 3B, ahead of Tyler Greene or Allen Craig. But he didn’t give any indication of how he intends to use Lance Berkman — i.e. whether or not he feels Berkman will require preventative days off in the early going.
And, finally, the playlist:
Material Issue, “International Pop Overthrow”
Dead Milkmen, “Punk Rock Girl”
Everclear, “Queen Of The Air”
Rancid, “Roots Radicals”
Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Knock Me Down”
-M.
Holliday: I would defer some money for Pujols
Matt Holliday said Friday morning on ESPN Radio’s “Mike and Mike in the Morning” that he would be willing to defer some money from his current contract to help the Cardinals pay Albert Pujols. However, Holliday made it clear that the club has not approached him about such a possibility.
Note of the night/Stat of the day, Sept. 28
Note of the night: Don’t look now, but Matt Holliday is having, well, a Matt Holliday kind of season.
Note of the night/Stat of the day, Sept. 9
Note of the night: Matt Holliday was ejected in the fourth inning on Thursday night after he argued a called third strike, making a bit of a show of it in the process.
Matthew Leach
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