PITTSBURGH -- With a doctor's permission to resume baseball activities, Matt Holliday will immediately increase his rehab work with an eye on returning to the Major League team in two to three weeks.
Holliday, who had a screw inserted into his fractured right thumb on Aug. 17, visited a hand specialist on Wednesday to see how much healing had taken place since that procedure. There was enough, general manager John Mozeliak said, that the Cardinals are comfortable about allowing Holliday to keep pushing, as tolerated, while he rehabs in Jupiter, Fla.
Before Wednesday, Holliday had been limited to lower-body exercises, cardio work and gripping exercises.
All this puts Holliday on track to return before the end of the regular season. If he is on the short end of that recovery time frame, he could return ahead of the final three series.
Holliday had a .242/.318/.450 slash line, 19 homers and 60 RBIs as the team's primary left fielder before he took a pitch from Cubs reliever Mike Montgomery off his hand and subsequently landed on the disabled list.
Worth noting
• Aledmys Díaz played shortstop on Wednesday for the first time since fracturing his right thumb on July 31. Diaz transferred his rehab assignment to Double-A Springfield so he could play in the club's postseason opener. The Cardinals will monitor Diaz's progress over the next few days and have not ruled out activating him from the DL as early as this weekend.
• The Cardinals will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with a Fiesta Cardenales night at Busch Stadium on Sept. 30. That evening the Cardinals will also air their first Spanish-language home radio broadcast. To purchase tickets to Fiesta Cardenales, visit cardinals.com/theme.
• The Cardinals also announced plans to hold their 12th annual Career Day at Busch Stadium next Wednesday. To purchase tickets or learn more about the pregame panel discussion, visit cardinals.com/careerday.