There is a perception that the St. Louis Cardinals are chasing the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central this season, and that chase may have grown just a little bit tougher.
Shortstop Jhonny Peralta suffered what appears to be a torn ligament in his thumb on Saturday, and the injury could keep the All-Star shortstop out for two to three months.
Jhonny Peralta has a torn ligament in his left hand, similar to Molina's injury. Headed for 2nd opinion. Absence could be lengthy #Cardinals
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) March 7, 2016
Jhonny Peralta suffered a left thumb injury on Saturday. Early indications are that he tore a ligament, could miss 2-3 months.
— Jenifer Langosch (@LangoschMLB) March 7, 2016
Peralta will head back to St. Louis to receive a second opinion; #STLCards will get better feel for severity/recovery after that.
— Jenifer Langosch (@LangoschMLB) March 7, 2016
That’s bad news for the Cardinals. Peralta hit .275 with 17 home runs in 2015, and now he may be out until May or June, and he’ll likely need a rehab stint and some time to get himself up to game speed even once he’s healthy. Yadier Molina had roughly the same injury and is just now getting back into the swing of things. The only evident replacement on the roster right now is Jedd Gyorko. Could the Cardinals’ aging core be a bit brittle? Perhaps Jason Heyward had a point about age.
