There wasn't much good to take from the St. Louis Cardinals' ugly, defensive-nightmare loss to the San Francisco Giants, but it was a pretty good day to be Colby Rasmus, all things considered. The Cardinals' 24-year-old center fielder hit his sixth triple of the season—as many as he hit in all of 2009 and 2010—and popped his fifth home run, a grand slam, to do most of the offensive heavy lifting for the Cardinals in the loss. Rasmus's power is down a little from 2010, but he's shown a remarkable variety of offensive talents in 2011, utilizing his speed in particular as an offensive weapon. His five stolen bases put him on pace to top his inefficient 12 in 2010, and the six triples are second in the National League, behind only Jose Reyes.
Fantasy owners who don't have to worry about his occasionally spotty defense are finally getting the multiple tools that were promised for Rasmus when he was taken with the Cardinals' first-round pick in 2005. Cardinals fans who do have to worry about the defense—well, when he's hitting like this it's the least of their defensive concerns.