The St. Louis Cardinals’ playoff chances took a major hit with the team’s five-game skid. After dropping two of three games against the Colorado Rockies, the Cardinals were swept at home by the New York Yankees in a three-game series, falling 5.5 games out of the final NL playoff berth.
The Cardinals’ situation is now further complicated by the loss of Brendan Donovan, who was placed on the 10-day IL with a left groin strain, per MLB.com’s John Denton.
Donovan, St. Louis’ lone All-Star Game representative this season, has been one of the team’s best offensive players, leading the Cardinals with 118 hits in 110 games played.
Cardinals lose Brendan Donovan for second-half push
The Gold Glove second baseman attempted to play through the groin strain after picking up the injury in the Cardinals’ series opener against the Chicago Cubs on August 8. Since then Donovan has been in and out of the lineup, as he hoped extra rest would allow him to avoid a trip to the IL.
However after sitting out the entire Yankees series, the Cardinals opted to move the fourth-year veteran to the injured list. The timing isn't ideal as St. Louis has dropped three games below .500 and recently lost Victor Scott II to injury. But the discomfort became too much for Donovan to manage.
“It’s really only lateral things, running was OK. But pushing off to get a ground ball, and with my rear leg and my swings, I think all of it affected that,” Donovan said, per Santos Perez of MLB.com.
“Playing through pain is one thing. I think when you play a professional sport, that’s just part of it. But when pain starts affecting performance, that’s when I realized it might have been a little deeper than a little bump and a bruise here,” he added.
Donovan started the season hot for the Cardinals, hitting .297 with a .801 OPS, eight home runs, 36 RBI and 51 runs entering the All-Star break. However, the 28-year-old infielder has slowed considerably since returning from the Midsummer Classic.
Donavan is slashing .203/.264/.278 with one homer, nine RBI and six runs scored in 21 games since July 18. In that span, the Cardinals have gone just 10-18. The team went from 6.5 back in the division to trailing the first-place Milwaukee Brewers by 18.5 games. St. Louis fell from 1.5 to 5.5 games back in the Wild Card standings.
