So: Skip Schumaker has come down with a torn oblique, the most common injury in the baseball universe. I have it on good authority that this makes the St. Louis Cardinals somewhat less attractive, but the good news for fans of left-handed outfielders with no power is that the Cardinals have been stocking them all offseason. Do you like super-fast tweener outfielders? Adron Chambers! Rule 5 center fielders more your style? Try Erik Komatsu!
The Cardinals even have several converted corner infielders available, in slugging (Mark Hamilton) and on-basing (Matt Carpenter) variations.
Whether all of these outfielders are actually useful as baseball players is debatable. But Skip Schumaker operates within the same sketchy parameters, so this is all completely within reason. Given Allen Craig's likely absence, the Cardinals should have both reserve outfielder spots open to Memphis-bound players for the start of the season.
More St. Louis Cardinals updates handpicked from SB Nation St. Louis:
- The Cardinals managed to win Monday in spite of Schumaker's absence.
- With Skip Schumaker they're 7-6 in Grapefruit League play.