Cardinals Allen Craig to DH today

St. Louis Cardinals power bat Allen Craig suffered an apparent injury to his left wrist yesterday in a game against the Detroit Tigers. He dove for the ball in right field, but he has said that he feels better. Craig will be the designated hitter this afternoon at 1:05 p.m. eastern time when the Cardinals take on the Tigers.

Allen Craig broke out last season in just 75 games, as he was worth 2.6 WAR and emerged as one of the team’s best hitters; especially with regards to his ability to hit for power. Craig smashed 11 home runs and drove in 40 runs in that short amount of time, but he was greatly helped by a .344 BABIP that yielded a .315/.362/.555 triple slash. Craig would finish the year with a .399 wOBA for an insane 158 wRC+ while playing a key role for the Cardinals in their World Series winning season.

This season, Craig has still benefited from a high BABIP (.354), but he usually has high BABIP totals and the normal BABIP for him in a season should be around .325. Craig has still shown proficiency in hitting for power, as he has followed up his .240 ISO season in 2011 with a .289 ISO in just 30 games.

It looks like he should be worth at least 3 WAR this season and has truly blossomed into one of the game’s better hitters. Allen Craig has been getting on base at just over a .400 clip due to a high increase in walks, with his overall walk rate projected at around 9% (12% right now). He has an even better 178 wRC+ this season, and that makes up for his subpar defense. He will be DH’ing today, and hopefully the injury doesn’t hinder him from having another big game at the dish.

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