PITTSBURGH -- Most impressive about Dakota Hudson’s recovery from his Tommy John surgery is the head that he’s carried. He’s been even-keeled, his manager has said. He’s been determined to get back before the end of the season -- starved for it -- but he has not risked his health by taking too quick a step forward than was appropriate.

Now he’s getting his shot to take a massive step forward.

Hudson, once a 16-game winner as a rookie, on Saturday will make his first rehab appearance since he underwent the procedure in September, Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said prior to Friday’s tilt against the Pirates. Hudson will pitch for Low-A Palm Beach and throw in the neighborhood of 30 pitches -- a leap forward in his recovery and a wholly encouraging sign that he can return to the Majors by season’s end.

“You’ve got a hungry guy who missed competition, a team guy that I text fairly frequently with, and it’s always about what we're doing and how we're doing,” Shildt said. “He desperately wants to get back to compete and help us win a World Series, but he also is self-disciplined enough to be able to say, ‘You know what? I got to be smart about this. I'm going to listen to my body, to the medical team. I'm going to take the steps necessary. I'm not gonna skip any of the schedule to try to get back unnecessarily quick.’”

How Hudson recovers from his early rehab outings will determine the probability he returns before the close of the season. President of baseball operations John Mozeliak recently took a trip down to the club’s complexes in Jupiter, Fla., and said that Hudson looked sharp. The club has said that his spin rate and feel for pitches is starting to mimic the numbers he possessed before his injury.

A return for Hudson would assuredly come out of the bullpen, without enough time to build back up into a starter’s role. That re-debut will be saved for 2022.

But Hudson’s return would nonetheless be an emphatically positive sign for the Cardinals, who have seen a bevy of injuries impact their pitching staff this season and is currently without Jack Flaherty for possibly the remainder of the year. Not only will it return a friendly face, but it’ll welcome back a 26-year-old former first-round pick with a 3.17 ERA in 67 career appearances (40 starts), who finished fifth in Rookie of the Year voting in 2019.

Hudson has “had in his mind” that he’ll track well for a Major League cameo in September, saying in Spring Training that, “Mentally, I'm waiting on September. I'm waiting and I'm doing my work and trying to hit my marks. I’m just trying to stay on pace to where that's an opportunity to compete at the end of the year. Be available is the ultimate goal.”

Now, he appears en route to his wish.

“[Heck] yeah man. Good for him, good for us,” Shildt said. “I don’t say it, because it doesn’t have to come up a lot, but he’s a guy that’s been missed.”

Worth noting

• Tyler O’Neill, who made a pair of pinch-hit appearances but has missed every start since Tuesday with mid-back tightness, returned to the starting lineup on Friday. O’Neill said he woke up in dire pain on Tuesday, thinking he might have injured a rib, but had his back loosened up enough to return. Fielding and throwing was his biggest bar to clear.

• After smoking a two-run opposite-field homer and getting on base three times on Friday, Edmundo Sosa made his third consecutive start, two in place of Paul DeJong at shortstop. Sosa made just two starts at shortstop (six in total) in July -- DeJong’s best month of the season -- but he has now been plugged into shortstop nine times in August, as DeJong has slashed just .192/.295/.346 on the month.

"Talking about the hot hand, Paulie’s best month was July, and he’s had a very capable August, it’s just the other guy has been able to play a little bit more consistently offensively,” Shildt said. “ … Sosa’s getting opportunities and Paulie will be available and ready. He's got a great attitude, I give him a lot of credit.”