After a nearly seamless start to the season, the St. Louis Cardinals are all-of-a-sudden reeling. Tuesday night, they lost 7-1 to the hapless Pirates, but that likely wasn't the worst occurrence. A single game in a season of 162 isn't a really huge deal, after all. Losing your power-hitting protection for Albert Pujols, however, is. Ryan Ludwick gave chase to a ball off the bat of Nyjer Morgan early in the game and came up lame with a strained right hamstring. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Tony LaRussa anticipates the Cardinals will have to put Ludwick on the disabled list -- where he'd join fellow starting outfielder Rick Ankiel.
La Russa said, "Barry (head athletic trainer Barry Weinberg) says there's a real sore spot there, so I wouldn't anticipate the news being too good.Yes, Ludwick is a really important guy. This is one of those cases where not only do the Cardinals lose the numbers of Ludwick (8 home runs, 26 RBI this year), but they lose a respected power bat to protect Pujols. You can expect Sir Albert to see his fair share of intentional walks or "unintentional-intentional" walks in the next few weeks with Chris Duncan, Khalil Greene or Yadier Molina behind him.
"We're running a little dry out there ... but there's always players. We'll put a lineup on the field tomorrow. But he's a really important guy."
In the outfield, the Cardinals will probably be forced to use Duncan, Colby Rasmus and Skip Schumaker everyday. It's not an awful outfield by any stretch, but the pinch will really be felt because of how it cripples their depth in both the infield and outfield.
Meanwhile, the NL Central is emerging as the best race of the season. There are presently four teams within 1 1/2 games, and all four are good teams -- as opposed to the AL Central where it's a race to see who is least futile. It's going to be very interesting to see how things shape up as the Cardinals and Cubs deal with big injuries while the Brewers and Reds attempt to stay scorching hot.
UPDATE: He's been officially placed on the 15-day disabled list. Outfielder Nick Stavinoha has been recalled from triple-A to man Ludwick's roster spot in the meantime.
