St. Louis Cardinals' manager speaks of alignment after Carlos Beltran’s knee injury – NLCS Update
St. Louis Cardinals' manager Mike Matheny on Thursday, October 18, spoke of the alignment made after Carlos Beltran’s exit in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the San Francisco Giants due to a knee injury.
The Cardinals were forced to make changes as the situation demanded with the exit of Beltran. It was Matt Carpenter who had to replace him in the outfield. Carpenter remained impressive both offensively and defensively, smashing a two-run homer in the team’s ultimate 3-1 win.
On Thursday, however, the club brought in Allen Craig to the outfield. Craig who has done well at first base, as the team manager put, is all comfortable to go ahead with the outfield position.
"It's more where they feel comfortable than anything else," Matheny said of the alignment. "We've had this discussion through the season, and Allen Craig has always been very vocal that he's comfortable at first base and, to me, he's improved. But he feels more comfortable in the outfield. And the same could be said for Matt Carpenter. It's a more natural position for him on the infield."
It was quite evident in Thursday’s game how Allen Craig has proven his worth. The player, was 3-for-1 and did equally well on defence.
With the change that was necessitated due to Beltran’s exit, the realignment has so far worked well. However, Mike Matheny hopes and indicated that Carlos Beltran will be back in Friday’s Game 5 to start.
Beltran was to be used as pinch hitter in Game 4, which the Cardinals went on to win 8-3, but the team eventually decided to give him a day off. That will certainly be helpful for the player to completely regain his fitness in order to show up in Game 5 and embolden the team’s offence.
With the lead that the Cardinals have secured now, Beltran – with his creditable experience in the post-season games, will be more of an asset for the club, helping them not only defensively but offensively as they get closer to the World Series championship again.
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