louis-cardinals – Afro Universe

Ryan Mayer Monday night was one to remember for St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Daniel Poncedeleon. The 26-year-old right-handed pitcher went seven innings allowing no hits while striking out three and walking three batters in his MLB debut. The Cardinals went on to lose the game 2-1, but the night was still a special one for Poncedeleon, who just 14 months ago, had to have emergency brain surgery after getting hit in the head by a line drive. St. Louis manager Mike Shildt praised the toughness that Poncedeleon has shown in his comeback from the injury when speaking with reporters after the game. From stltoday.com : “Talk about a comeback story,” manager Mike Shildt said. “We’re in the process of one here (so) it’s only fitting that maybe he’s a part of that. I can’t even imagine what he dealt with, and there for a while it was touch and go just from a lifestyle standpoint, quality of life for him. To be so dogmatic with his mindset that, ‘I’m going to pitch again and I’m going to pitch in the big leagues.’ We’re going to see that sooner than later. It’s impressive.” Poncedeleon missed nearly all of last season recovering from the injury, but he has been shining in the minors so far this year, posting a 9-3 record with a 2.15 ERA in 92 innings of work with the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds. He told Fox Sports Midwest that he never worried about not being able to get back onto the field after his injury, always maintaining faith. Poncedeleon says he always maintained faith that he would get back on the mound following emergency brain surgery: “I never thought I wasn't going to play. I was asking my wife, 'When I am going to get on the bus to go back?' and the bus already left weeks before.” #STLCards pic.twitter.com/icL7mZw2al — FOX Sports Midwest (@FSMidwest) July 23, 2018 After last night’s stellar outing, it’s clear that faith has served him well.

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Cardinals Pitcher Daniel Poncedeleon Dominates MLB Debut One Year After Life-Threatening Injury

July 24, 2018 0 comment

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The Baseball Report: Matheny’s Out, deGrom’s Agent Sends Mets A Message

written by DeborahPerkin

Ryan Mayer The St. Louis Cardinals missed the playoffs just four times between 2000 and 2015, while making the World Series four times and winning twice. The franchise was seen as one of the gold standards in the league and had seemingly undergone a successful transition at manager from Tony LaRussa to Mike Matheny. Well, the last two and a half years haven’t been as kind to the Cardinals, and on Saturday it cost Matheny his job. St. Louis, 48-46, have missed the playoffs each of the last two seasons and enter the All-Star break seven-and-a-half games back of the Cubs in the division race and four games back in the battle for the Wild Card. The franchise hasn’t missed the playoffs in three consecutive seasons since 1997-1999 and clearly, executives thought a change was needed in order to avoid that fate. In addition to the team’s performance on the field, there were incidents off the field, like the situation between closer Bud Norris and reliever Jordan Hicks , that seemed to factor into the decision. Either way, over the course of his six-and-a-half seasons at the helm of the squad, Matheny went 592-474 with a World Series appearance back in 2013, when the Cards lost to the Red Sox in six games. While the Cardinals are looking for a new manager, the New York Mets could be looking for a new ace if they don’t negotiate a new contract with Jacob deGrom. Reports this week indicated that deGrom’s agent had told the team that the 30-year-old righty is interested in locking into a long-term deal to stay in the Big Apple. But, that came with a caveat. deGrom’s agent, Brodie van Wagenen of CAA, told reporters that if the Mets do not share that same interest in a long-term contract, the team should immediately begin looking for a trade. That’s not quite an outright trade request from deGrom, but it’s as close as one can get. In fairness to deGrom, he is certainly out-performing his contract, as through 123 innings pitched this season he’s allowed just 23 earned runs, good for a minuscule 1.68 ERA. He becomes arbitration-eligible after this season, but the team still has two years of control through the arbitration process before he could become a free agent in 2021. For more on these stories and the rest of the week in baseball, check out the video above.

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The Baseball Report: Matheny’s Out, deGrom’s Agent Sends Mets A Message

July 17, 2018 0 comment