At this point, the only change that is clear is Lance Lynn will start in place of Jaime Garcia on Tuesday. Speaking before Saturday’s game, Mike Matheny explained the need to push back the left-hander at least one day if not longer.
“Jaime didn’t throw his bullpen,” shared Matheny. Garcia had played catch yesterday, but afterwards noted there was still some lingering soreness from the cramping in the groin area he experienced in his last start.
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“Yeah, he felt it,” continued Matheny, noting that John Lackey could make the start on Wednesday. “Kind of thinking along the lines of regular rest and if we end up getting an extra day in there and Jaime’s ready to go, we go.”
Matheny had yet to receive enough information to determine if Garcia will throw a bullpen tomorrow or would need to have a full turn in the rotation skipped, but he did not believe that as of now it was a long term situation.
HOLLIDAY BACK SWINGING
As the Cardinals took their batting practice cuts a familiar figure stepped out of the dugout with a bat in hand–Matt Holliday. The left fielder took his first cuts against live pitching as he prepares to return from a quad strain that has placed him on the disabled list since June 9th.
Holliday said “no update” after his session–which included several balls being launched over the bleachers in left field.
Besides taking his swings at the plate, Holliday is still expected to begin running in the very near future.
“Same thing–going to keep watching how he goes day-by-day,” said Matheny. “I imagine it will be pretty progressive. He’s done a lot of the simulated movements. As far as intensity level, I think it’s going to start out pretty slow. See how it feels, see how it looks. These guys have a pretty impressive program of just kind of feeling different supporting muscles and how everything’s working, lining up, and just if they can push it or not.”
BOURJOS STARTING
–A night after he took a hard foot to the face while scoring the winning, walk-off run Peter Bourjos is starting in centerfield for the Cardinals. Describing it last night as having his bell run, Bourjos said was already feeling better and believed he had passed the concussion test.
“Yeah, it’s nice having those tests now,” confirmed Matheny on Saturday. “We can give them right away and see if everything’s measuring up. He looked good and was given the green light today,”
photo credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
