The St. Louis Cardinals have been playing solid baseball in July as they approach the All-Star break, but they are still waiting on the return of slugger Lance Berkman. He is recovering from surgery to repair a torn meniscus suffered back in May, and now it appears Berkman needs a couple rehab starts in the minor leagues before he will return to the team. Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch recently spoke with manager Mike Matheny about Berkman's recovery, and Matheny noted that the plan is to give him several rehab starts:

Matheny said that Berkman, recovering from right knee surgery, has been running well in his pre-game drills. Asked if he thought Berkman would need a couple of rehabilitation games in the minors, Matheny said, "Yes."

Asked if the veteran Berkman was on board with that, Matheny also said, "Yes."

Berkman posted a .333/.429/.571 over 48 plate appearances before suffering his knee injury.

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