In the days since he plunked back-to-back left-handed hitters on the first two pitches that he threw Wednesday, Cardinals reliever Génesis Cabrera has been able to move forward.

A younger pitcher like Cabrera might let those control issues linger and affect his mental state, especially when one of the players he hit (Phillies right fielder Bryce Harper) took a 96.9 mph pitch to the face. But considering the way that he rebounded with two shutdown innings against the Pirates on Friday, Cabrera left no doubt that he’s past whatever issues arose against Philadelphia. Cabrera needed just 26 pitches to work through the seventh and eighth innings, retiring all six batters that he faced, giving the back end of the Cards' bullpen some relief.

“I think in that situation, it could rattle your confidence a bit if you let it, and the man just went out there and did his thing like nothing ever happened,” St. Louis starter John Gant said after earning the win Friday. “I thought that was awesome from him.”

It was a necessary bounce-back performance for Cabrera to show that Wednesday’s outing wouldn’t be on his mind moving on.

A nice message from Harper helped a bit, too.

After Cabrera apologized multiple times for the incident Wednesday night, Cardinals manager Mike Shildt sent Harper a text of support. Harper let Shildt know that he understood that the pitch was not intentional. He even offered to talk with Cabrera on the phone.

“I just wanted to make sure he was OK,” Harper said Friday. “He’s a young kid. He’s a young pitcher and that could definitely mess with somebody. We’ve seen it. You’ve seen it in the past with guys that hit somebody or they throw a pitch to the backstop and then it’s an onion that just opens, right?”

Cabrera said Saturday he hadn’t yet had the chance to talk to Harper, but Shildt had called him into his office to tell him about Harper’s message. It put to rest any lingering nerves that Cabrera had and let him keep his focus on the series in Pittsburgh.

“[Shildt] shared the information that Harper had reached out saying that he was fine and that he appreciated my comments towards him, saying that we're sorry about everything,” Cabrera said Saturday through a team translator. “In terms of that, him reaching out, that also made me feel really good, and as always I'm wishing him the best; a speedy recovery so he can get back to baseball activities.”

Outside of Wednesday, Cabrera has been productive through the first month of the season for St. Louis. In 12 total appearances, Cabrera hasn’t allowed a run in nine and has kept opponents hitless in six.

That’s the pitcher that the Cardinals believe he can be. Not the one who followed up Harper’s hit-by-pitch by hitting Phillies shortstop Didi Gregorius in the ribs before yielding an RBI single.

If Cabrera’s Friday outing is any indication, St. Louis won’t see many appearances reminiscent of Wednesday very often.

Cardinals not planning to backfill taxi squad

Shildt said that reliever Daniel Ponce de Leon was placed on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to Thursday) due to inflammation in his shoulder that flared up after his outing Wednesday.

Ponce de Leon’s shoulder felt “more sore than normal” the following day, and by Friday, the soreness had turned into more discomfort/pain. The staff then decided that it was best to shut him down and wait to see what imaging will reveal Monday.

In the ensuing move, the Cardinals activated right-handed pitcher Jake Woodford. He was already traveling with the taxi squad, though, which left only catcher Tyler Heineman and infielder José Rondón as the taxi squad members.

In the past, St. Louis has liked to keep another arm in reserve on the road. However, with the Cardinals only being on a three-game trip -- in addition to the different travel protocols provided due to the COVID-19 pandemic -- Shildt said that the plan is to keep the taxi squad as is.

“In the current structure of COVID travel, we don't think we're going to backfill that unless something really bizarre happens. And then I'm not sure what that plan would look like based on travel restrictions,” Shildt said.