Cardinals outfielder Stephen Piscotty returned to the team Wednesday and told reporters the reason for his absence: His mother, Gretchen, has been diagnosed with ALS.
"I'm not going to beat around the bush, it's been discussed the reason I went back was for my mom," Piscotty said. "Last Wednesday she was diagnosed with ALS, and so it was a time to get back and spend time with her.
"It just really puts life in perspective. When I got the news it was a little tough to focus, and I felt it was the right decision to go home and Mike (Matheny) was great about making that real easy. I was very thankful for that, especially my mom (too). It's time to get back to work and get rolling, so I'm excited to be back and get back in there."
Piscotty had left the team Friday afternoon to spend time with his family in California, missing five games.
ALS, short for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, affects as many as 30,000 people in the United States.
He said he spent the weekend with his family and kept tabs on the Cardinals with his mother, who he said is a "terrific" sports mom.
"We actually watched all the games on the couch, she thought it'd be a fun, weird idea to have me there watching. So we did that," Piscotty said. "The whole family was able to come back and spend some time and kinda gather ourselves, and my mom is very strong, so we're gonna be behind her.
"I know she enjoys watching me play so I wanna give her that," he added.
Piscotty is in the Cardinals lineup for Wednesday's 7:15 p.m. game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Busch Stadium. He will play right field and bat sixth.
