Cardinals reserve C Yohel Pozo making the most of his first trip back to the majors since 2021

Reserve catcher Yohel Pozo will remember his first time being in St. Louis.

Pozo came off the bench in the second inning against the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night after teammate Masyn Winn left after one inning with lower back spasms, sliding into the shortstop’s No. 9 position in the batting order.

And, he played a big role helping the Cardinals to a 2-0 victory over the Phillies. Pretty amazing stuff for a player who recently returned to the major leagues for the first time since 2021.

“When I played in the big leagues in ’21, I was in the American League,” said Pozo, who was with the Texas Rangers. “I have never been to St. Louis before. This is beautiful here. It feels great to play in front of a lot of people. It’s really nice.”

Getting into the game unexpectedly didn’t bother Pozo, who had never caught winning pitcher Andre Pallante previously.

“I sitting on the bench talking to Willson (Contreras), and (Daniel) Descalso came over to me and said you’re going to catch next inning. You don’t have time to do anything,” Pozo said. “If you’re mind is right, you’re ready to go anytime.”

He hit an RBI double in the fifth inning that ended a scoreless game. It was the first of his three hits, just the second in his 22-game big league career. He scored five batters later on a bases-loaded walk by Aaron Nola.

“He takes a really good at-bat,” St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said. “He does a nice job behind the plate. He’s done a nice job for us.”

Pallante agreed.

“I mean, it’s not easy,” Pallante said. “He wanted to know what we’re doing. I just went over everything really briefly and he learned it really fast. He hit great. He was great back there.”

Pozo’s wife, Paola, and his two sons were in St. Louis to see him, as they are every game.

“My family is in the stands and I’m happy for that,” Pozo said.

The 27-year-old Pozo, a native of Venezuela, joined the Cardinals to replace injured catcher Ivan Herrera, who is out with a bone bruise on his left knee.

He made his debut with the Cardinals — and return to the major leagues — on Monday in Pittsburgh after being called up from Triple-A Memphis.

In that game — his major league debut — in front of 15 family members, Pozo hit a home run in the 8-4 loss. The home run came three years, seven months and 25 days since his last MLB homer on Aug. 13, 2021, against Oakland.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb