8/24 GDT: Royals(Keller) vs Cardinals(Flaherty) 7:15 PM CT

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Royals vs Cardinals
7:15 PM CT - August 24, 2020
Busch Stadium - St. Louis, MO
Cardinals Broadcasts: FSMW or KMOX 1120
Royals Broadcasts: FSKC or KCSP 610

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After missing 11 games and three weeks away from the field, All-Star shortstop Paul DeJong returned to the active roster and was in the lineup for Sunday’s 6-2 victory in the series finale against the Reds. He went 0-for-4 with a strikeout, but said he was encouraged by his three sharp fly balls to the opposite field.

The Cardinals activated DeJong off the injured list and optioned right-hander Seth Elledge to the alternate training site in Springfield, Mo., on Sunday morning.

DeJong said he battled a fever in the first few days after his positive test, but after he overcame that, his focus was on getting back to the field. But his workouts were limited while quarantining in St. Louis. He was cleared to resume activity early last week and went to the club’s alternate training site on Thursday to get live at-bats before returning to the roster. DeJong is the second player to return to the roster after catcher Yadier Molina came back on Thursday.

“It wasn’t anything too bad,” DeJong said of the fever. “We’re all fortunate that it didn’t turn into something worse. We’re all young and healthy, and so it just became preparing myself to come back. wasn’t worried too much about my health toward the end, just worried about getting back on the field.”

Shildt said that lefty Matthew Liberatore, the Cardinals’ No. 3 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, came to Busch Stadium this past Wednesday and threw a 75-pitch live session to DeJong and Molina that helped accelerate their returns. DeJong then got eight to 10 at-bats in Springfield while also doing defensive work and running the bases. His stamina held up during his break, so he focused more on making quick breaks out of the box and on the bases.

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Fellow West County residents Mike Matheny, then an adviser for the Kansas City Royals, and unemployed reliever Trevor Rosenthal got together one day this past offseason at Matheny’s home.

Matheny, who managed Rosenthal at the height of his career here when the righthander had consecutive save seasons of 45 and a club record 48 in 2014-15, said he had seen some video of Rosenthal from the 2019 season — when Rosenthal was let go three times — and he had some thoughts about that both pro and con.

“I could tell he was in a good place with his body, as much as anything, and with his mind,” said Matheny. There was other input in the matter but Matheny asked general manager Dayton Moore to “take a chance” on Rosenthal, who was just 29 at the time and had recovered from Tommy John elbow surgery done late in the 2017 season.

And so came the restart of Lee’s Summit native Rosenthal’s career as a closer. The Royals have two other relievers who have had 30 or more saves in a season in Ian Kennedy, last year’s closer, and Greg Holland, a former Cardinal, who was the Royals’ closer during two World Series seasons.

The bullpen also features 100 mph fastballer Josh Staumont who, in Rosenthal’s estimation, “has got a better arm than I ever had. I’ve never seen a ball jump out of anybody’s hand like I’ve seen with his.”

But it is Rosenthal who generally is the finisher. And he has closed almost unfailingly.

“He’s doing a fantastic job,” said Matheny, who will be here with Rosenthal for the next three days as the Royals come to town for an interleague series.

Rosenthal admitted he had adopted some bad habits while he was rehabbing from his surgery.

“I started messing around with a different throwing program,” he said. “I tried to change some mechanical stuff that led to the majority of my struggles last year. I thought there was something I could do to be more efficient. It was the wrong thing.

“Things kind of snowballed. Once the season was over, I pretty much went back to what I had done in the past. I started to get comfortable. I started to get my confidence back and then I came into spring training and everything was clicking. And I’ve been able to continue building on that.”

Rosenthal received plenty of advice last year. “But it just seemed like there was never really anybody that could explain to me what I was doing — really give me any quantification why my results were the way they were,” he said.

“I had to do a lot of it on my own. It took an offseason to figure it out.”

To have his former manager in Matheny and a former Cardinals pitching assistant in Cal Eldred as the Royals’ pitching coach has been a large benefit, said Rosenthal.

“Mike understands me more than anybody,” Rosenthal said. “And I understand him. With this being his first year here as manager, a lot of players come to me and ask me questions about him. In the bullpen, I can let guys know what he’s thinking and how he operates.

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VS

[cardsfantx]

dammit yadi...

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/new ... g9jdr7779l



(put this in the other thread as well; wasn't sure if anyone would check there)

[MinorLeagueGuy]

Finally above 500. lets rattle off some dominance.

[heyzeus]

Yikes.

[InvincibleCakeEater]

A legit winning streak would be nice.