Injury-riddled St. Louis Cardinals can use All-Star break

The All-Star break arrived at the right time for St. Louis.

Prior to their June 30 home date with the Chicago White Sox, the Cardinals owned baseball's best record at 51-24 and possessed a nine-game lead over Pittsburgh in the National League Central.

After ending the season's unofficial first half with a 6-5 loss in 10 innings Sunday night to the red-hot Pirates at PNC Park, St. Louis' once-mammoth advantage is down to 2 1/2 games. That means it took just 13 days for the team to lose almost 75 percent of its lead.

But the four-day respite for most of the team -- shortstop Jhonny Peralta, catcher Yadier Molina and three pitchers (Michael Wacha, Trevor Rosenthal and Carlos Martinez) are heading to the All-Star Game -- should allow it to press the reset button on the year's final 73 games.

So should the return of a handful of key players. Left fielder Matt Holliday (right quad) could be back as early as Friday night, when the Cardinals host the New York Mets, giving a struggling lineup its No. 3 hitter back.

Setup man Jordan Walden might be back before July's end, affording the bullpen its eighth-inning man and enabling other relievers to slide back into the roles they filled so well as the team got off the mark well in April.

Starting pitcher Jaime Garcia, who was better than anyone had a right to expect with a 1.69 earned-run average in seven outings before a groin injury June 24 in Miami shelved him, figures to be back before the calendar flips to Aug. 1.

While those additions will help, this injury-riddled team -- its Opening Day roster has missed a whopping 217 man-games as of Sunday night, including the loss of ace starter Adam Wainwright for the season in late April -- will probably still need a bat if it is to field its best roster for October.

First base has been a black hole. Matt Adams, out for the year with a torn right quad, wasn't hitting well before his injury on May 26. Mark Reynolds hasn't hit with as much power as hoped, meaning elite pitchers -- about the only kind you face in October -- can breeze through this group at times.

General manager John Mozeliak knows this, but for the second straight year, the market for power bats looks thin. What's more, the organization's minor league depth has been taxed to an extent with trades the last 12 months, perhaps reducing the chances to find help.

The first 22 games after the All-Star break appear very accommodating. Only four take place against winning teams (three against the Mets, a makeup date with Kansas City) and 14 of the first 16 are in Busch Stadium, where St. Louis is an absurd 31-11.

Even with a bumpy stretch in the two weeks before the All-Star break, the Cardinals should play postseason games for the fifth straight year. How they finish the final 73 games will determine if they win their third consecutive division title or have to do it the wild-card way.