Despite injury, Holliday will attend All-Star game if voted in by fans

Matt Holliday’s recovery from a strained right quadriceps is progressing nicely enough that he would attend the All-Star game on July 14 in Cincinnati if fans vote him onto the roster.

“I mean, I would go,” Holliday said Sunday afternoon after he participated in outdoor batting practice for the second consecutive day. “I would maybe take batting practice and continue to do what I’m doing as far as rehab goes. But it’s still two weeks away. I’m not sure where I’ll be at that point. But if I get voted in, I’ll be there.”

As of Tuesday, Holliday ranked third in the National League outfielders voting, trailing Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals and Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins. Stanton will be sidelined for the next four to six weeks with a broken left hand.

Holliday, batting .303 with three home runs and 26 RBIs in 52 games, is encouraged that the majority of his recovery is behind him. But the 35-year-old reiterated that he will continue to follow the program laid out by the training staff.

“They’ve got a plan for me,” Holliday said. “They’ve got it mapped out and we’ll see how it goes. We’ll kind of just see how it goes over the next week and gradually work in some running. Build it up to full-speed and go from there.”

Holliday expects to be cleared to begin running this week.

“Everything else is going really well,” Holliday said.

The Cardinals are 12-4 since Holliday suffered the injury chasing a fly ball in Colorado.

“It’s great,” he said. “They’re obviously playing great, so there’s no hurry. We’re winning and playing well. We’re finding ways to win and guys are stepping up. That’s really the way it’s been the last few years.”

This story was originally published June 28, 2015 at 5:42 PM with the headline "Despite injury, Holliday will attend All-Star game if voted in by fans."