If you could take any good news out of an injury, the St. Louis Cardinals and Albert Pujols have. Pujols is currently on the disabled list with a strained calf, the team initially feared the worst thou a tear. After undergoing an MRI Wednesday, team medical supervisor Dr. George Paletta diagnosed Albert with a mild strain, officially a Grade I-II strain. This would mean some severe stretching of the muscle but not a complete tear. The Cardinals are in the midst of a playoff race, so the real question is how long will he be out?

The Cardinals released a statement yesterday calling for a minimum of three weeks. How much longer would all depend on how long it takes the slugger to heal. Pujols will now be ordered to take three days of complete rest, after that he’ll start treatment on the leg. In 7-10 days, he’ll be allowed to begin baseball related activities, most likely throwing, catching and maybe batting practice. There is no timetable set thou on when he could begin to run. That will without a doubt come last, and probably take a couple weeks to happen. Hearing this would lead me to believe it’s about a 3 to 6 week injury, which would put Pujols out till right around the All-Star Break. Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa is more optimistic thou, “I heard it won’t be that long.”

“I think based on what we first feared, this is extremely good news,” general manager John Mozeliak said. “To lose arguably the game’s best hitter for any amount of time is tough to take. But the fact we’re talking weeks and not months is encouraging.”

Three other teams have had to go through stretches with their best slugger on the DL, only one team has performed well during that stretch. Both the Colorado Rockies and New York Yankees struggled without theirs, while the Boston Red Sox continue to play plus .500 ball. Mind you, the Red Sox are still missing David Ortiz so that could all change.

The Cardinals are going to have to play some of their best ball over the next few weeks. Like mentioned earlier, the team is in the middle of a playoff race and if they fall back now, they might not be able to catch the Chicago Cubs later. While, Pujols is on the DL, Chris Duncan will get the majority of the starts at first base. Don’t know if thats a good thing or not, as Duncan had recently been demoted to Triple A-Memphis for his poor play. Even in Memphis the play continued, as he was batting .160 in 25 at-bats.

“It’s like what (Bobby Jones) said about Nicklaus: ‘He plays a game with which I’m not familiar.’ Well, that’s how you look at Albert,” said third baseman Troy Glaus. “He’s a great hitter and a unique talent. I can’t go out there and try to be Albert. Ankiel can’t. Ludwick can’t. We just have to make the most out of every at-bat and every opportunity.”

Our Random Articles

• International basketball is changing, again
• College Football Picks
• Fastlinks
• Does injury to Curtis make Eagles better?
• Dolphins quarterbacks

More Links