The St. Louis Cardinals’ medical treatment room sees more guests than a Holiday Inn these days.

And that’s Holiday with one “L” because the Cards’ left fielder appears to be healthy, even though he is off to a slow start in 2012. But it seems like Matt Holliday is part of a small, exclusive club on this team: healthy Cardinals.

Friday’s game against the Pirates in Pittsburgh was just the latest spin of the Cards’ injury roulette wheel. Skip Schumaker—just a couple of pitches into his return to the Cardinals after an oblique injury cut short his Spring Training—bounced off the wall running down an Alex Presley shot that turned into an inside-the-park homer. Schumaker left the game, but more as a precautionary move by manager Mike Matheny than anything else. Still, it was the second time in as many games a Cardinal center fielder lost a battle with the outfield wall: Jon Jay came up with a sore shoulder when he went down chasing a Drew Stubbs home run on Thursday at Busch Stadium. But Jay also appears to have avoided serious injury and a trip to the disabled list, and Schumaker apparently just had the wind knocked out of him.

Also in Friday’s game, Daniel Descalso fouled a pitch off his face (!!!). He stayed in the game, however, and even hit a home run late in the contest. But that made it two scary moments too many for a Cards team already playing without several key players.

Allen Craig is still a ways away from rejoining the Cardinals, and no one has any clue at all when Chris Carpenter will pitch again this season. Adam Wainwright is not injured, but continues to struggle to regain form a little more than a year after Tommy John Surgery. Earlier this week, Lance Berkman aggravated the calf injury he’s been battling for a little while now; he was placed on the 15-day disabled list as Schumaker was activated Friday.

All this injury activity has led to roster shuffling that has probably been Matheny’s toughest managerial test to date. The best news of all may be that Jay and Schumaker are day-to-day, at least unofficially. The Cards’ depth would all but evaporate if they sustained too many more injuries.

But that depth is going to have to carry them for a while. Matt Carpenter has been one of the great stories of the young season for the Cardinals, and Shane Robinson has some good numbers off the bench as well. Unfortunately, the two guys with the least amount of flexibility—Rule 5 draftee Eric Komatsu and out-of-options Tyler Greene—are scuffling the most at the plate. Backup catcher Tony Cruz is off to a slow start as well, but his skill behind the plate gives him value that Komatsu and Greene cannot match. Regardless, as these guys get more playing time, they have to step up their game.

The Cardinals are only two-thirds of the way through the first month of the season, and already their starting lineups are starting to read like a Triple A roster. Fortunately, none of their division rivals are playing particularly well, so the Cards may be able to weather this storm. But they cannot afford to keep losing key pieces, or things in the NL Central could get real tight real quick.

Chris Reed also writes for InsideSTL Mondays and Bird Brained whenever he feels like it. Follow him on Twitter @birdbrained.

It’s been a soggy, stormy week in St. Louis. Amazingly, the Redbirds got all their games in, even though they had to play a double header. They took 4 of 6 games at home, including 2 from the division rival Reds, leaving them at 12-10 atop the NL Central.

The Cards hope to head to dry land as they visit Houston and Atlanta this week after the off day Monday. The offense has a nice draw this week avoiding Houston’s top two starters and Tommy Hanson in Atlanta. They get Norris, Happ (L), and Figueroa from the ‘Stros then Hudson, Beachy and Lowe from the Braves.

Injury Front:

Albert Pujols left the game Sunday night with mild tightness in his right hamstring. No word on any lingering effects as this appeared to be just a precautionary move. Assume he’ll be good to go.

Skip Schumaker will remain on the DL through the week with an elbow injury and Allen Craig will be there too. Both are eligible to come back next week but it’s uncertain that they will.

Playing Time:

Nick Punto was activated from the DL but will share time with Daniel Descalso on the infield. Neither needs to be paid any attention at this point.

HOT:

The Puma continues to pounce. Lance Berkman is playing like an MVP. He has four straight multi-hit games and his average is up to .377. He seems to be his old self, just remember he will be spelled throughout the season.

Albert Pujols has finally begun to hit the ball the other way and is looking comfortable at the plate. He has already climbed to the top of the HR leader boards after hitting three out this week. He’s scoring runs and driving them in (7 on this home stand). He’s now hit in 11 of his last 13 games and is finely putting fantasy owners’ minds’ at ease. What, you didn’t really think his slump would last did you?

A new combination of Fernando Salas, to Eduardo Sanchez, to Mitchell Boggs, may become a familiar refrain in the next few years in St. Louis. Sanchez has struck out 12 in his first 7 Major League innings and is a nice holds option if your league counts them. Boggs has looked impressive since taking over the closer role. He has great stuff and all that has held him back heading into this season was control. With a 15/3 K/BB ratio, he seems to be figuring something out. He has a filthy slider and a live fastball that can push up to 97. He has been a bit lucky but hitters are chasing a bit more which is a nice indicator of how good his stuff is.

Kyle Lohse threw a two-hit complete game shutout against Washington for his third straight quality start. He’s pitching deep into games, displaying great control, and a decent K rate (6.32). He is starting to warrant ownership in most leagues and is proving that his struggles were related to health issues. He has also developed a nice change-up that he is throwing more than ever.

Jaime Garcia is still hot and is one of the best two-start pitchers available this week.

NOT:

Ryan Franklin can be dropped in all formats. He’s lost his closer role. And even in the appearance he did have he gave up a two-RBI hit to Miguel Cairo that sealed the second game of the Cincy series. His stuff is just getting mashed at the plate.