Cards Projected Opening Day Lineup -- Injuries Galore!

by mojowo11 on Sep 28, 2007 10:54 PM EDT

I was typing up the Cardinals injuries for another forum, and then I decided to try out the projected Opening Day lineup for the 2007 Cardinals and see how everyone was doing health-wise (note: this isn't the actual Opening Day lineup, since people were already injured by then...go Cards!).

As you can probably guess, it's almost comically abysmal...and this doesn't even include the guys who are hurt that weren't supposed to start, the death of Josh Hancock, and so on. We all sort of know this, but it's ridiculous to see it laid out in a list. We've only got 2 of our projected starters left, for chrissake.

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C: Yadier Molina - INJURED. Recently had season-ending knee surgery.

1B: Albert Pujols - PLAYING HURT. Albert is sort of always playing hurt, but his legs/feet seem to have affected him more this year than before. Albert has just returned to the lineup after not starting for about a week. He wants his 100 runs and 100 RBIs, and ain't nobody gonna stop him.

2B: Adam Kennedy - INJURED. After sucking something awful (279 AB, .572 OPS) for the first half of the year or so, Kennedy had season-ending surgery for a torn meniscus in his knee. Kennedy making room for Ryan may have been the offensive turning point of the season, but he's injured regardless.

3B: Scott Rolen - INJURED. Recently had season-ending shoulder surgery. Nobody was surprised.

SS: David Eckstein - HEALTHY! Hoo-freaking-ray.

LF: Chris Duncan - INJURED. Had season-ending surgery for a sports hernia that he dealt with throughout the entire second half of the season, a period during which he saw his numbers (power and average) decrease markedly.

CF: Jim Edmonds - INJURED. Seemingly limited to pinch-hitting for the remainder of the season thanks to a groin injury. Last started almost two weeks ago. Not that he was outhitting anyone.

RF: Juan Encarnacion - INJURED. Smashed in the face with a foul ball. Recently had surgery to correct some orbital damage. Career in jeopardy. Sigh.

SP: Chris Carpenter - INJURED. Tommy John #2. Good thing he signed that extension.

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Comments

Carp

This is the big fellas first TJ. The first surgery was a shoulder procedure.

With the success rate of TJ surgery...I'm actually pretty confident that he can return to an elite level. However, they need to give him ample time, and I'd even go as far as to pitch him out of the bullpen when/if he comes back in '08.

"I'm hungry. Not for food. Just for baseball" Amaury Cazana Marti

by bobbyballgame1 on Sep 28, 2007 11:10 PM EDT reply actions

Well, I think Carp will be back

next year, I just don't know if he's going to be ready to fit right into the rotation. Mulder's the one I think is going to need more time. His injury seems like it's much worse than they let on. Remember, he was supposed to be back by July........I just think he's going to need a lot of time to rehab.

by jillsinmo on Sep 28, 2007 11:18 PM EDT up reply actions

After watching mulder come back and blow up

I am not convinced he will never again be an effective MLB pitcher. Unless he learns to use his torso and lower body throwing he will continue to destroy his shoulder.

His throwing with just his shoulder has destroyed it. He hasn't fixed that problem, so his problems will continue.

by DriverZn on Sep 28, 2007 11:24 PM EDT up reply actions

Question

The projected Lineup has played 889 out of 1296 games. Granted no one expects any player to play every game, much less a catcher. Also, some of those lost games are due to ineffectiveness and not injury. Anyone know how other team's projected lineups teams compare to the Cards in terms of games lost due to injury.

by maurerdj on Sep 29, 2007 5:16 PM EDT reply actions

Good question

The other team that seems to constantly whine about their players being injured this year is the Phillies. Their projected lineup played 1038 of 1288 games going into today. Hmm.

by mojowo11 on Sep 30, 2007 5:19 PM EDT up reply actions