NEW YORK -- In the press box during R. A. Dickey's white-wash of the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday afternoon at Citi Field, it was mentioned how young Jon Jay, the Cardinals' center fielder that day, seemed to have a ball magnet in his pocket.
There's always something happening around him.
In the first inning, he solved the knuckleballer for a double. Later in the game, he tracked down a bullet sent hurtling to deep center field. When the New York Mets were staging a second rally of the game, Jay tossed a strike from center that beat Carlos Beltran to the plate for the final out of the inning. Instead of a crooked number on starter Blake Hawksworth, the Mets got only one and the righty was able to plunge deeper into the game and save the bullpen some unnecessary innings.
"Every day he does something good," manager Tony La Russa said.
Jay started every game of the Cardinals' three-game visit to Queens. The lefthanded-hitting rookie Jay started all six games of the Cardinals' 2-4 road trip. He did so sometimes at the expense of center fielder Colby Rasmus, a second-year slugger, and also to score right fielder Ryan Ludwick a day off.
La Russa wouldn't acknowledge a three-into-two rotation, though he repeatedly said through the series against the Mets how difficult it is not to put Jay in the lineup. He's "earning" the at-bats and he's "always doing something," La Russa said. "He's a smart player, and he's showing it."
Rasmus, meanwhile, is struggling through an extended cold spell. It could be a chicken-egg situation for the center fielder -- he's not right at the plate, so he's getting less time at the plate to get right. La Russa said he plans to play Rasmus, and now the Cardinals return home to Busch Stadium where he's a .217 hitter.
Take a look at what he and Jay have done since Jay returned from Class AAA at the start of July. These are the numbers from the previous 28 days:
Rasmus ... .254/.286/.339 ... .625 OPS
... 0 HR, 5 XB, 3 BB, 15 K
Jay ... .438/.513/.703 ... 1.216 OPS
... 2 HR, 12 XB, 11 BB, 7 K
