St. Louis Cardinals: 3 Hitters Who Must Step Up in Lance Berkman's Absence

The St. Louis Cardinals will be without slugging first baseman Lance Berkman this weekend as they take on the Chicago Cubs.

Berkman’s bat will certainly be missed in the Redbirds lineup, but that doesn’t mean the Cardinals won’t be able to win the weekend series against their rivals.

In order for that to happen though, several hitters will need to step up and pick up the slack for Berkman.

Let’s take a look at three players who will need to have a big series against the Cubs for the Cardinals to emerge victorious.

Matt Carpenter

Carpenter will most likely take the starts at first base in Berkman’s absence. That means he’ll have to step up his production.

So far this season, Carpenter is hitting .200 and has three RBI in 10 at-bats.

That’s not bad, but some power would be nice to help replace Berkman’s contributions.

Carpenter has the tools to be a threat in the lineup in Berkman’s absence and should be a valuable bench player for the rest of the season.

Matt Holliday

Holliday has struggled out of the gates a bit after a very hot spring. He’s hitting .226 with two home runs and three RBI.

He’ll need to add a couple more home runs and some more RBI to his stats if the Cardinals are going to beat the Cubs.

He won’t have Berkman protecting him in the lineup, but that can’t be an excuse. He needs to step up and show that he’s worth the money the Cardinals are paying him.

He’s the main man on offense now, and he needs to start proving it.

Carlos Beltran 

If I were Mike Matheny, I’d move Beltran to the cleanup spot in the batting order to replace Berkman.

The obvious choice would be to move hot-hitting David Freese to the four spot, but I’d put the switch-hitting Beltran there.

That way, the Cubs would have a tougher time managing their bullpen late in the game, since they’d be unable to use one right-handed reliever to face Holliday and Freese.

Beltran is currently tied for first on the team with three home runs, so he’d be a natural choice to protect Holliday in the lineup.