By Chris Brown – STL Baseball Today

Though Matt Holliday said he felt “pretty good” after a lengthy workout prior to Friday’s series opener against the Pirates, the Cardinals will not activate the veteran left fielder until after the upcoming All-Star break.

The 35-year-old, who was elected as a starter for the Midsummer Classic by the fans for the first time in his career, was hoping to return for the weekend series. Holliday has been out since June 9 due to a grade two quad strain suffered while chasing a fly ball in Colorado.

GM John Mozeliak told Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that while Holliday is close, it just wasn’t worth the risk of activating him:

“We always approach this in a realistic way. He’s an All-Star and we’d love to have him back in the lineup. But I don’t want to have him back for a day or two and then find out he’s going to be out for a longer period of time.”

“I think it makes sense to take the All-Star break and pick up another extra week to let him heal. He’s the type of player who likes to have a little say in this, but he admitted it was best to wait.”

Mozeliak and manager Mike Matheny both expressed optimism to Hummel that the six-time All-Star will be in left field when the Cardinals open up their second-half schedule against he Mets at home on Friday.

Holliday was hitting .303 with three home runs, ten doubles, and 26 RBIs  in 52 games before the injury.

Young Dodgers’ outfielder Joc Pederson will start in Holliday’s place in the All-Star game, while the Brewers’ Ryan Braun will take Holliday’s roster spot on the NL team.

 

Featured image used under Creative Commons by Keith Allison. No changes made. Image license.