Matt Holliday's Holiday from Roy Halladay Hurts Cardinals in NLDS Loss

After a bumpy first inning, Philadelphia Phillies ace Roy Halladay cruised to an 11-6 NLDS Game 1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals Saturday afternoon.

The Cardinals got nice Game 1 production from Albert Pujols and Lance Berkman, but clearly missed their third big bat, Matt Holliday, who made only a cameo ninth-inning appearance as a pinch hitter.

Holliday injured a tendon in his right middle finger on September 15th in the on-deck circle and hasn’t been 100 percent since.

While Holliday’s career stats against Halladay are quite modest—one hit in six at-bats—his presence in the starting lineup would’ve surely bolstered the Cardinals, who need every advantage they can get against the Phillies’ star-studded pitching staff.

Holliday slugged 22 homers, had 75 RBI and hit .296 during the 2011 regular season, and has hit six homers in just 57 postseason at-bats.

However, Holliday had an injury-plagued 2011 season, missing nearly 40 games in total. And who can forget the night in August when he was forced to leave the game after a moth flew into his ear?

As for his current injury, the finger tendon, he’s probably been in the on-deck circle thousands and thousands of times, dating back to little league and T-ball, without incident. 

Until September 15. 

The Cardinals need their Holliday to return full time—and fast. Otherwise, the Phillies and their Halladay will have a considerably easier path to the NLCS, and the Holliday-less Cardinals will be looking at an early holiday from the postseason.