St. Louis Cardinals Fantasy Report Week 5

It’s a good thing defense doesn’t count in most fantasy circles. If so, you’d have to think twice before you start a Cardinal. Their defense is really holding the club back. Even so, the Cards won each of their series this week taking 2 out of 3 from the Astros and Braves and could have swept both series.

This week the Cards head home to play seven with four against Florida and three against division rival Milwaukee. The offense is hitting on all cylinders and will look to continue against a decent pitching force this week. The Marlins will throw Volstad, Sanchez, Vasquez and Johnson while the Brewers will send Wolf (L), Gallardo, and Narveson (L). Johnson and Wolf have been two of the best pitchers in the NL to start the season but the other five have been up and down in performances.

Injury Front:

Skip Schumaker continues to recover and is still two weeks or more away from returning.

David Freese left Sunday’s game with a broken third metacarpal in his left hand. He’ll head to the DL and might need surgery.

Nick Punto also left Sunday’s game with tightness in his hamstring.

Playing Time:

Daniel Descalso will see his already increasing role grow this week with the injury to Freese. Matt Carpenter might get the call to replace Freese on the roster. He had a great spring but was ice cold to start the season at AAA. He now is getting back on track. He has great plate discipline and is an interesting one to watch but not worth owning at this juncture. He was the organization’s Minor League Player of the Year in 2010.

The bullpen is an ultra-committee right now. Boggs blew a save, Sanchez grabbed one, Miller grabbed one and Salas got two. There’s no way to tell who will get the call at this point and until a clear option presents itself it’s best to stay away.

HOT:

It feels like Lance Berkman has been on this list every week. Last week he made Houston fans remember what they loved about him and made them want to forget why they let him go. This week he went 11-24 with a gigantic performance at Houston on Thursday going 4-5 with 2 HR and 5 RBI. Over his last ten, he’s hitting .526 with 2 HR and 10 RBI with 9 Runs scored. Not too shabby.

David Freese was hot but finds himself with a frustrating trip to the DL ahead. In his last ten he’s hit .351 with 5 RBI. He’s worth stashing away ‘til he gets healthy but the lack of power is somewhat concerning, of his 31 hits this season only 6 are for extra bases. It feels like he is younger than he really is (he turned 28 on Thursday) so expecting a breakout in power is not reasonable. If he stays healthy, his HR ceiling may be around 12-15.

Matt Holliday continues to rake and has an 8 game hitting streak. Usually a slow starter, Matt looks locked in and could experience a year closer to his career best in 2007.

Kyle Lohse has now thrown 4 straight quality starts. He’s going deep into ball games displaying good control and decent strikeout rates. Opposing hitters are only managing a .173 average. He’s a must start against Florida and with the way he’s going it would be worth considering him against Milwaukee, only because he is at home.

NOT:

No one really warrants be named on this list this week. We’ve already surmised that Ryan Franklin is done and praised the heavens because defense is not a problem in fantasy baseball.