Lance Berkman Injury: ACL Tear Suspected

Injury Could End Berkman's Career

The Cardinals’ Lance Berkman left Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers with a knee injury and after the game he couldn’t even put weight on the leg in the clubhouse.

Now, a report from Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the injury could be worse than originally suspected:

Berkman advanced the possibility of having merely torn his meniscus Saturday night. Sunday he still exhibited acute stiffness around the knee. "I really can’t do anything," he lamented.

Sources familiar with Saturday’s preliminary examination by two Dodgers team doctors said Sunday that an ACL tear is suspected.

Berkman, placed on the disabled list Sunday morning, recognized that his next game may be a long time off.

If this turns out to be true, it could mean the end of Berkman’s career:

"You think about it when you have a potentially major surgery at this stage of your career," he said. "… I don’t think it’s one of those deals where you sit out a week and see where you are. I think it’s much more serious than that."

MRI results with a definitive diagnosis are expected later Monday.

Matt Adams, Matt Carpenter, and Allen Craig (when he returns from the disabled list) all provide potential internal options to replace Berkman.