St. Louis Cardinals' closer Jason Motte named NL Player of the Week – MLB News
St. Louis Cardinals' closer Jason Motte on Monday, September 24, won the National League Player of the Week honour – which remains the first one of his career. It came after he had a remarkably successful week wherein he had recorded no less than five saves.
Representing the Redbirds, a team that won the World Series last year, Motte’s stellar performance proved handy, keeping the Cardinals’ march for a Wild Card spot intact and bolstering their position in the National League Central.
In the just over four innings that he pitched in those games, he struck-out 10 and allowed just two hits. What is more important, as was reported here yesterday, Motte had his 40th save of the season, becoming only the fourth Cardinals closer to attain that glory.
While manager Mike Matheny was concerned with the workload that Motte had to bear, he was obviously happy to see the closer deservingly getting the honour of National League Player of the Week.
"It's good to know he cares about you," Motte said of his skipper. "He doesn't just care about the save or whatever even if your arm falls off tomorrow. That's good to know; it tells you a lot about the kind of person he is. He told us he doesn't want us going out there throwing every day."
Cardinals were undeniably faced with a host of challenges. However, the recent surge witnessed speaks volume of the resilience this club has and is always ready to shine. Bullpen’s performance remains critical in shaping things for the Cardinals.
"You don't see that happen very often with the bullpen guys," Matheny said. "We were talking earlier, they're kind of like the interior linemen, they're only noticed when things go bad. But I think that's a huge award for him."
Motte now has 2.86 ERA after having converted 40 of 47 opportunities. With that rate of success, if the club makes it to the playoffs, he will be an intimidating presence on the mound for the rival teams. Also, his saving five straight games make him the first Cardinals' reliever to do that since June 1993, something that he would like to continue in the days to come.
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