ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals may have another Silent George on their hands.
Yes, George Hendrick carried the moniker, but in this instance, I’m not referring to the slugging outfielder who played in St. Louis from 1978 to 1984.
Cardinals reliever George Soriano has a personality and demeanor that might also fit the billing for the nickname.
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol told me in Pittsburgh, after Soriano limited the damage in a key spot of Wednesday’s win despite errors and oddities nearly forced the Redbirds to walk the plank, that the 27-year-old right-hander’s disposition on the mound is such that he never gets too up or too down about the circumstances of any given moment.
“The more you watch him, he’s really steady in his mentality and overall demeanor out there -- one way or another, the most you’re going to see is a little, you know,” Marmol said as he gestured a muted fist pump.
Watching Soriano strike out Shohei Ohtani looking to end the seventh inning on Friday night at Busch Stadium, my mind went back to Wednesday night in the manager’s office of the visiting clubhouse at PNC Park -- because I saw him do it, the little fist pump from Soriano as he bounced off the mound before pounding his chest a couple times.
“That’s about what you’re gonna see, yeah,” Marmol smirked after Friday's 7-2 win over the Dodgers. “The dude, he’s a competitor and he’s quiet but it’s awesome to see him -- the way he prepares -- it’s pretty next-level. It’s impressive.”
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Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore, whose 5.2 innings of two-run baseball held up in his first win of the season thanks in part to Soriano’s contributions, loved seeing his teammate let out a little exuberance after such a big spot in the game.
“Yeah, that’s a lot of emotion for George,” Liberatore grinned. “Even inside the clubhouse, he’s definitely a little bit on the quieter side. So, to see any emotion, even that, is awesome for him. You know he was pretty fired up about that.”
Soriano spoke with the media through an interpreter after Friday’s win, with Cardinals bullpen catcher Kleininger Teran getting some face time with the media by serving in the role.
I don’t speak any Spanish, but I knew enough to pick up a bit as “KT” relayed a question to Soriano that had inquired about where he ranks Friday’s strikeout of Ohtani among his personal career highlights.
Numero uno, dos, tres -- what number on the list did punching out the reigning NL MVP rank?
“I don’t have an idea,” Soriano said through the interpreter. “That’s the third time I struck out Ohtani, so -- it’s not the first time.”
And Soriano wasn’t misremembering -- his career stats against Ohtani do include, after Friday, three strikeouts.
For a guy who’s supposedly pretty quiet, that was one helluva mic drop.