FanPost

Cards Projected Opening Day Lineup -- Injuries Galore!

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.