St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Allen Craig needs additional tests on his injured left foot and could be lost for the rest of the season.
Craig left the Sept. 4 game with a sprained left foot.
The foot was re-evaluated Sept. 12, and doctors recommended that he resume wearing a walking boot to protect it. He was taking batting practice in late September but not putting weight on his left foot.
He remains in a walking boot and is scheduled for X-rays this week.
If he improves this week, he could be sent to the instructional league to face live pitching, but would still leave the Cardinals with a difficult decision regarding the playoff roster.
“I hate to focus too much on that because I don’t know if he’s ever going to be physically ready to do that this year,” Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said.
Craig is hitting .315 with 13 home runs and 97 RBIs.
With Craig out of the lineup, Matt Adams is swinging a hot bat.
Adams is 23-for-70 with seven home runs and 14 runs batted in since Craig’s Sept. 4 injury. Included are three homers in the ninth inning or later.
Adams went 2-for-4 in Monday’s 4-3 win over Washington.
If the last few days have been any barometer, Adams will continue to hit in the cleanup spot, where Carlos Beltran had struggled after replacing Craig at No. 4.
Adams has replaced Craig’s offense, to a large degree. But, with Adams in the lineup, he isn’t on the bench. And the Cardinals really don’t have much firepower off the bench, with manager Mike Matheny reluctant to use some of his extra men, most of whom have not hit successfully at the major league level.
Right-handed-hitting Shane Robinson, who had to play Sunday when left fielder Matt Holliday was sidelined with back spasms, is the Cardinals’ best threat off the bench now. The only pinch hitter they used on Sunday was Adron Chambers, who was hitting .150. He struck out.