David Freese left Game 3 of the NLCS between the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers Monday with a sore right calf muscle. The loss of Freese left the Cardinals without one of their most prolific postseason bats at a time when their offense was at a historic low.
Freese left Game 3 after driving a base hit in the fifth inning and moving up to second on a single by rookie first baseman Matt Adams. Mike Matheny then made the decision to pull Freese from the game and utilize Daniel Descalso to pinch run and take over in the field. Steve Gilbert of MLB.com spoke with Freese after the game:
It was just during that AB, then I took off running and it was pretty tight. It just kind of tightened up on me, and obviously Mike felt it was necessary to take me out just in case we needed someone to score.
The severity of the injury was downplayed very early and Gilbert reported Freese was day-to-day with his injury. Gilbert continued to share the status of the Cardinals’ third baseman later in the same article:
“I think it’s just tight,” Freese said. “I don’t think I strained it too bad, but we’ll check it out tomorrow. I hope I can play tomorrow, but we’ll check it out.”
Said Matheny: “Right now, it’s day to day, and we expect him to be ready to go.”
Freese reported to the park for workouts Tuesday and Frank Cusumano, a reporter from St. Louis NBC affiliate KSDK, confirmed via Twitter that Freese felt ready to go.
The news is good for the Cardinals. Their offense has struggled early on in the series. Despite Freese‘s lack of production, backup Daniel Descalso offers very little help. Descalso is known more for his defensive ability and versatility than his presence at the plate. Alternatively, the Cardinals could turn to rookie Kolten Wong at second base and shift Matt Carpenter over the third base, his natural position. Once again, though, this offers little offensive relief, as Wong has failed to discover his stroke at the major league level.
Freese has offered many memorable October moments in his short career. His presence in the lineup gives the team a feeling of capturing another of those moments at any time.
The Cardinals are in need of one of those moments.
Follow me on Twitter to discuss all things MLB during the postseason.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com