By Chris Brown – STL Baseball Today

After exiting the first game of the team’s Tuesday doubleheader against the Cubs with what was eventually diagnosed as a mild concussion, Cardinals’ second baseman Kolten Wong met with team doctors Thursday afternoon and said he expects to return to the starting lineup on Friday against the Pirates, MLB.com associate reporter John McGonigal reports. Wong said he is no longer experiencing any dizziness or headaches and feels fine.

Left fielder Matt Holliday sprinted in the outfield at PNC Park park early Thursday under the watch of team doctor Clayton Skaggs, according to Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Holliday, sidelined for the past month due to a left quad strain, is still hoping to return to the Cardinals lineup some time during the four game series in Pittsburgh. Manager Mike Matheny told McGonigal Holliday could be activated as soon as Friday but is unlikely to play in the field during the weekend series. It’s not clear what that could mean for Holliday’s status for starting in the All-Star game on Tuesday.

Here’s some other news and notes on the Cardinals as they prepare to kick off a four-game series in Pittsburgh leading up to the All-Star break:

• Lefty Marco Gonzales, who hasn’t pitched since May 19 due to an impingement in his left shoulder, is scheduled to make his first rehab start Friday at Class A Palm Beach, GM John Mozeliak told MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch on Monday. Gonzales will slowly build up his pitch count in games and could be an option for the big-league team in roughly two-three weeks, Mozeliak said.
• Outfielder Jon Jay, out since the first of the month due to a stress reaction in his surgically repaired wrist, has been at his home in Miami this week after he was prescribed a week of rest by doctors. There’s no timetable for his return.
• Reliever Matt Belisle, who’s been sidelined since the end of June, is traveling with the team on the current road trip, but the club doesn’t have a good idea of when he’ll be ready to return to action. Belisle has experienced inflammation in his right elbow with no diagnosed cause.

 

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