Cardinals first baseman Allen Craig will have more X-rays taken on his sprained left foot Thursday, reports Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Allen Craig injury: Cardinals 1B getting more X-rays
Craig’s return to the Cardinals lineups is looking less and less likely the longer his foot stays in a boot.
USA TODAY Sports
More Cards: What to do with Carpenter and Freese
Craig, 28, has been in a walking boot for nearly three weeks now. GM John Mozeliak said “nothing’s changed” in regards to Craig’s status overall, which does not bode well for his chances of returning to the club anytime soon.
The Cardinals had hoped that Craig would be able to rejoin the club for the final week of the regular season, but now his chances of being healthy for even the Division Series (should the team make it that far; they currently lead the NL Central by two games with five left to play) are in doubt.
Mozeliak said that the next step for Craig in his recovery would be taking swings against pitchers in the system’s instructional league, but added that he wasn’t sure if the first baseman would ever “be physically ready to do that this year.”
Craig has been a huge factor in the Cards' success the last two seasons, allowing the franchise to put Albert Pujols in the rear-view mirror without any feelings of remorse. Craig is batting .315/.373/.457 with 13 home runs in 134 games on the year. He had been a key performer for them with men on, hitting .454/.500/.638 in 152 plate appearances with runners in scoring position.
The Cards' situation at the cold corner looked a bit precarious last week when Matt Adams left a game with elbow pain, but he was able to return two days later and has played in all but one game since then. Adams is batting .282/.334/.498 with 16 home runs in 103 games, including .315/.342/.616 in September, so there has been little, if any, drop in production at first.
More from SB Nation MLB:
See More:
