Pujols out, Braves hurting

Happy Tuesday morning, and first day of summer.  We've already had more hail this spring than I remember in my entire life here in Des Moines- hopefully we dry out soon.

The dog days of summer are officially upon us, which means my favorite sport, baseball, takes center stage until college football fires up.  Lucky for us, baseball has given us some great story lines at the perfect time of year.

I'll start with my Atlanta Braves, who are still in the hunt despite a slew of injuries over the past few weeks.  Martin Prado, arguably the best pure hitter in the Braves lineup, is out with a staph infection in his calf, which just sounds like a really nasty ailment.  Prado has proven to be one of the most versatile players in the organization, stepping into left field after the Braves signed Dan Uggla this past off-season to play second base.  It's tough to replace a career .300 hitting in the middle of your lineup, but even tougher when you look at the Braves' outfield options.  Erik Hinske is a nice bench player, but not an everyday type player.  Jordan Schafer has made a nice comeback, but has been playing in center.  Nate McLouth...well...enough said. 

The injury troubles continue for the Bravos- Chipper Jones is never really 100%, Tommy Hanson is on the DL with "shoulder inflammation"- always scary to hear of a pitcher with arm troubles, Jason Heyward is finally back from his shoulder injury, and Brandon Beachy should be back soon.  If the Braves ever get 100% healthy, they'll give the Phillies a run for their money...but that's a big IF. 

I know Philly is stacked with both pitching and hitting, but I'm not sure that Hudson/Jurrjens/Hanson/Beachy doesn't stack up too badly against Halladay/Lee/Hamels/Oswalt.  Add in the fact the Braves have Derek Lowe (who was lights out late last year and earlier this season despite recent struggles), Mike Minor, and two of the top pitching prospects in the game in Julio Tehran and Radall Delgado, and the Braves have the depth to withstand an injury or two.  Once you get past the Phillies top 4, you've got Joe Blanton (yippee!) and.....

On the injury scene, the bigger news comes from the St. Louis camp, where Albert Pujols will be out 4-6 weeks with a forearm fracture.  Bad news for the Cards- you just don't replace an MVP-caliber player by making a call-up.  Bad news for Albert- aside from the injury, its also a "contract year."  The national media is going crazy with the story, so I'll just say this- the Cards chances in the central may have just taken a major hit.  No Wainwright for the year, now no Albert for 4-6 weeks, and Matt Holiday has already been on the DL twice.  Imagine how good this team could have been. 

The clock is running, and as of now, we are officially keeping score...