Given David Freese's astoundingly bad luck with injuries to date, his latest malady—a finger problem on his right hand that's keeping him from gripping a baseball right—could, at any moment, flare up into something cataclysmic. So as a St. Louis Cardinals fan I don't want to get too chicken-counting over this.

But. But. At the moment, at least, it doesn't look like an especially severe injury. Freese is day-to-day, and could be back as soon as Tuesday night, when the Cardinals start another series against the Cincinnati Reds. With Matt Carpenter raking in relief of Lance Berkman for the moment, and Daniel Descalso and Tyler Greene scuffling about equally, there's no particular need to rush Freese, and given his past, they probably won't. But if things hold steady it won't be long before he's back fulfilling the hometown-hero role in St. Louis.

Freese is hitting .406/.424/.688, with three home runs, in eight games thus far in 2012. It goes nicely with that .397/.465/.794 line he put up in 18 postseason games a few months ago, doesn't it?