Matt Holliday activated by St. Louis Cardinals

One of my favorite roster moves—at least in verb form—is when a player comes off the disabled list. The team activates the once-injured player. It's a verb more befitting a robot than a man. The St. Louis Cardinals activated Matt Holliday on Monday before the club's game against the Brewers in Milwaukee.

#STLCards activate All-Star outfielder Matt Holliday (right quad strain) from the 15-day DL. Matt Adams in starting lineup tonight

— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) September 15, 2015

By now you're familiar with Holliday's machine-like production since breaking into the majors. He's the metronome of the St. Louis lineup. Here are his wOBA and wRC+ by year.

• 2004:  .361, 104
• 2005:  .372, 116
• 2006:  .410, 139
• 2007:  .428, 151
• 2008:  .409, 141
• 2009:  .391, 141
• 2010:  .397, 149
• 2011:  .395, 154
• 2012:  .378, 140
• 2013:  .383, 147
• 2014:  .360, 132
• 2015:  .362, 131

If we take the robot activation metaphor to its logical end: Holliday is like a T-1000. Since Holliday's mission post-activation is to help protect the team's lead in the National League Central division standings, the rest of the season is going to play out like T2: Judgment Day (in my mind). The Pirates will relentlessly pursue the Cardinals with Holliday constantly lashing line drives right through their figurative head, only to have it meld back together. The Pirates are made of nearly indestructible liquid metal, you see. Only some combination of liquid nitrogen and molten metal can destroy them.