The offense has looked good thus far across the board and rookie Oscar Taveras was the story on Thursday. The high-profile prospect blasted a grand slam home run to help the Cardinals to victory.
While the offense and the youngsters like Taveras and Kolten Wong have been impressive, the real story has suddenly turned to the Cardinals' health.Carlos Beltran and Jake Westbrook both left Thursday's game with injuries. Beltran left after taking a pitch off his foot in the first inning. X-rays were negative.
Meanwhile, Westbrook left with a knee contusion injury suffered on a comebacker off the bat of Marlins' first baseman Casey Kotchman.
While neither of the injuries seems to be serious, the veterans join an expanding list of the Cardinals who are already banged up before the calendar turns to the month of March.
Allen Craig has missed time already with a stiff shoulder and Matt Adams has a bit of a knee issue himself. Finally, shortstop Rafael Furcal still has not played a game in the field and it is uncertain when his tender elbow will get better.
Many Cardinals' fans are very excited about how good the young Cardinals' prospects look thus far and rightfully so. The Cardinals have several very good, high-ceiling prospects that look like they are ready to break-through and contribute at the Major League level sooner rather than later.
But hopefully they do not need to contribute right from day one out of necessity. The Cardinals have a lot of youth, but the core is made of older, injury prone players.
The Cardinals will need to be healthy in order to compete with the Cincinnati Reds in the National League Central Division and will need to do so over a brutal 162 game schedule.
It is very early in spring training and it is not time to overreact just yet. But the Cardinals' early injury situation is cause for concern.
