On Sunday afternoon, the game’s biggest and best slugger went down hard with an apparent left wrist injury. It didn’t look good, as Albert Stayed on the field in pain for several minutes before being removed from the game.
“When I come out of the game, believe me, something is really wrong”.
Those were phat Albert’s last words to reporters on Sunday after a walk off win against the Royals. It turned out that he was right. Monday morning, reports broke that Pujols had suffered a non-displaced forearm fracture and he would be sidelined for 4-6 weeks.
In most situations, this would be a debilitating blow to any team’s playoff aspirations, but not the Cardinals. St. Louis had built up as big as a four game division lead in the NL Central with Albert Pujols struggling mightily at the plate. About the beginning of June, Albert got back into the groove of things. He got his average up to .279 and boosted his homer total to 17. Albert was back.
However, just as Albert got back, the Cardinals started slumping. Prior to a series win against Kansas City, the Cardinals had been swept by Milwaukee and the Nationals. This is a good sign that the Cardinals can survive without the three time NL MVP.
Another reason, is the fact that the St. Louis Cardinals have tremendous depth. Even with 14 players currently on the disabled list, the Cardinals can slide Lance Berkman (Leading All Star vote getter for NL outfielders) in to play first base and place an emerging star in Jon Jay in left field. Lance Berkman is having a much better season than Albert, besting him in all three Triple Crown categories (.308,17,51). Meanwhile, Jay is following up a nice rookie campaign with a .313 batting average as the Cardinals best option off the bench. Because of this depth in the OF, the Cardinals still have an incredible line up with the Brewers hot on their trail.
With injured third baseman David Freese set to begin a rehab assignment later this week, the Cardinals line up could get even scarier. Here’s what a line up could look like once Freese is gone.
- Ryan Theriot SS
- Colby Rasmus CF
- Lance Berkman 1B
- Matt Holliday RF
- David Freese 3B
- Jon Jay LF
- Yadier Molina C
- Skip Schumaker 2B
With six of those eight starters hitting .297 or better, that is still an incredibly formidable line up for any starting pitcher.
So even with the loss of a three time MVP coinciding with the loss of several other every day contributors, the St. Louis Cardinals still have a great shot at making, and advancing in, the post season.
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