Brad Bar, USA Today Sports
Fantasy baseball managers must be wondering if they will get any production out of the corner infielders of the St. Louis Cardinals. While the Cards are at the top of the NL Central, they are doing it with little help from either Allen Craig or David Freese. Both players have been struggling to keep their average above the Mendoza line, and neither one has hit a HR yet.
Freese was the hero of the Cards’ championship run in 2011 as he won the MVP of both the NLCS and World Series. In 2012, he had another solid year, with an AVG of .293, 79 RBIs and 20 HRs. However, he is off to a slow start this season, batting only .217 after 23 ABs.
Freese was picked as the 13th 3B off the board this spring, but since three of the 3Bs selected in front of him are on the DL, this means he is probably in the starting lineup for a team in your league. So if you are lucky enough to have a spare 3B, now might be the time to propose a trade to them.
It isn’t much better across the diamond at 1B, where Craig has almost the same AVG at .218 after 55 ABs. He also had a strong 2012 season with an AVG of .307, 22 HRs and 92 RBIs. Craig was the eighth 1B drafted this spring, so his owners are surely disappointed so far.
The field of good 1Bs is larger than that of 3Bs. The injuries at 1B have been few so far, so I’m thinking that managers who own Craig have already stashed him on their bench and inserted another 1B into the lineup. They probably are not interested in a trade for a 1B at this time.
While Ty Wigginton can play both corner positions, he really isn’t an everyday player at this point in his career. Second year 1B Matt Adams has started five games at 1B, and is hitting at a .524 clip with three HRs. So he might be worth a shot if he is available in your league.
Now before you jump to the conclusion that this production shortage at the corner infield positions will prompt the Cards to bring up their hot prospect Oscar Taveras, just keep one thing in mind. Taveras is an outfielder, so don’t go looking for him on the waiver wire quite yet.
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