“There is a whole different person than I was in spring training,” Ponce de Leon said. “If you don’t have confidence in your fastball, you’re just a whole different person. Now, when you’re going out there and you know you can fire heaters then there is a whole different aspect. Once the fastball is there, I’m back to myself.”
At the start of the Cardinals’ 4-3 victory against Milwaukee on Tuesday night at Busch Stadium, Ponce de Leon quickly established his fastball and methodically asserted his place on the depth chart. The new, new Ponce de Leon allowed one run through five innings and with seven strikeouts came one shy of tying a career-high.