Piscotty’s brothers were able to join him in their San Francisco-area hometown.

“It was time to get back and spend time with her,” Piscotty said Wednesday. “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 was great about making that real easy. I was very thankful for that, especially my mom. It’s time to get back to work and get rolling.”

The Cardinals offered Piscotty access to any doctors in St. Louis who could help and made available any medical connections that the team has through Major League Baseball.

Teammates also reached out to Piscotty during his absence.

“It’s hard sometimes to get away from this,” Matheny said. “They need that support, and part of that support is that comfort that it’s alright to go. This is life. This is tough stuff. Go home. That’s the right place for you to be. Our world revolves around winning for nine months out of the year and we tend to lose sight – or at least compartmentalize and put stuff off to the side on the backburner. That’s how most of the guys are wired. But when something like this comes up, that can’t happen. You’ve got to go deal with the tough stuff.”