UPDATE: Finally, some good news for the Cardinals. Well, maybe.
According to the Associated Press, the Cardinals plan to wait a few days before deciding whether to place Matt Holliday on the disabled list following his appendectomy. He had the surgery yesterday and the Cardinals believe it’s possible that he could return before the end of a 15-day DL-stint.
Even if he needs to go on the disabled list, it sounds like he won’t need to miss 4-6 weeks, which is a very good thing.
Friday, 2:19 PM: I’m starting to think this just isn’t the Cardinals year. Either that or Drew didn’t pray hard enough while he was at baseball church in St. Louis yesterday.
Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports that Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday will undergo an appendectomy today and the recovery timetable is usually 4-6 weeks until “strenuous activity” is allowed, although Andres Torres of the Giants returned much sooner than that last year.
To replace Holliday, who hit a homer in yesterday’s loss to the Padres, the Cardinals will turn to some combination of Jon Jay and Allen Craig, perhaps in a platoon with the left-handed-hitting Jay getting the bulk of the starts.
Replacing the lost production, however, will be nearly impossible, as Holliday hit .317 with 28 homers and a .922 OPS last year in his first full season in St. Louis, ranking among the NL’s top 10 in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage.
St. Louis is already without ace Adam Wainwright, who underwent season-ending Tommy John elbow surgery in early March.