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| St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa plans on continuing to use Allen Craig at second base in order to get his explosive bat into the lineup. - Getty Photo |
A former third baseman in the minor leagues, Craig was moved to the outfield because of his shaky defense. At the major league level, the club has given him limited playing time at third base in the absence of David Freese. And two weeks ago, Craig made an appearance at second base. Manager Tony La Russa plans on penciling in Craig at second base more often in the future.
"He could be a second baseman with offense, could be a big benefit to the club, which would be a big benefit to him," La Russa said. "As far as playing time and money and ... It's not a wacky thing where there's nothing else to be gained."
Craig's bat has lived up to its lofty expectations. The utility-man is hitting .321 with three home runs and 17 RBI's in just 81 at bats this season. And while Craig has shown the ability to hit for average and for power, he has also shown that he can get on base with his .398 on base percentage as evidence.
La Russa covets "thunder" in the second spot in the lineup and Craig can hit for power and get on base in front of Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday, and Lance Berkman.
The question with Craig once again is his defense, which is something that La Russa, as usual, does not really worry about.
"You can catch it, you can knock it down and throw somebody out, and that's what I'm banking on," La Russa said. "What's the most impressive thing is not that he can make the routine play, because he's got good hands. It's that it hasn't affected his hitting. That was the worry. But it gives him an opportunity and he's made it work. He's gotten a lot of big hits for us, no matter where he plays."
And so, the Allen Craig experiment at second base will continue.
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