Matt Holliday has missed the past six weeks--including the All-Star game--with a strained quadriceps muscle, but the Cardinals left fielder is off the disabled list and back in the starting lineup tonight.
Holliday was having a very good season before the injury, hitting .303 with an .839 OPS in 52 games, but the Cardinals got excellent fill-in work from rookie Randal Grichuk in left field. Grichuk, who’ll turn 24 years old next month, has hit .277 with an .853 OPS in 59 games overall this season.
It’ll be interesting to see how manager Mike Matheny divvies up the playing time now that Holliday is back in the mix. Grichuk can play center field, allowing the Cardinals to keep him in the lineup alongside Holliday and right fielder Jason Heyward, which is exactly what Matheny is doing tonight. Light-hitting, good-fielding Peter Bourjos is on the bench.