MLB Injuries: OUCH! 3 Star MLB Players Recently Added to the Disabled List

Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals

Pujols was placed on the 15-day disabled list Monday afternoon after MRI and X-rays revealed Pujols has a broken arm and will miss four to six weeks of action.

Pujols was forced to leave the Cardinals game against the Kansas City Royals on Sunday after a collision with a baserunner coming down the first baseline in the sixth inning.

Pujols essentially carries the Cardinals and is to St. Louis what Joe Mauer is to the Minnesota Twins. If you're curious as to how the Twins have done without Mauer for much of this season, just look at the bottom of AL Central Division standings.

The Twins have won seven in a row, and their last three wins have been with Mauer back in the lineup.

I think this is going to end the Cardinals' chances at making the playoffs this year. Pujols is the centerpiece of this team, and Matt Holliday won't be able to do much more then he already is for St. Louis.

They can't last over a month without their star and still contend with the Brewers and the Reds.

Carl Crawford, Boston Red Sox

This injury comes at an unfortunate time for the scorching hot Red Sox. Crawford tweaked his hamstring running out a ground ball last Friday against the Milwaukee Brewers.

After a horrendous start to his season—Crawford hit .155 in April—he had begun to return to his old form hitting over .300 in May and the beginning of June.

Crawford was placed on the 15-day DL on Saturday with a Grade 1 strain in his hamstring. This injury does not appear to be serious, so it will not hurt the Red Sox long term.

For now though, this may slow down their offense a little bit but should not cause the Red Sox to drop too many games until Crawford returns.

Clay Buchholz, Boston Red Sox

Buchholz was placed on the 15-day DL Sunday with a lower back injury. There were rumors Buchholz was going to be scratched from his start against Milwaukee on Friday night, but he pitched five innings and allowed just two hits and one run.

Buchholz's back was ailing for much of the night and became too much for him after the fifth inning. The injury has been diagnosed as a lower back strain.

The Red Sox were 8-1 in Buchholz's last nine outings, which makes this another untimely injury for the leaders of the AL East Division. Buchholz will miss two starts if he returns on time, which will not effect Boston too much in the win-loss column right now, but will Buchholz be the same when he returns?

Buchholz was in the thick of the Cy Young Award race last season with a 10-4 record at the All-Star break last year before going to the DL with a pulled hamstring. Good news for the Red Sox is that Buchholz went 7-3 after he returned from injury a year ago.

The only problem with this is the Red Sox don't have another solid starting pitcher to replace Buchholz for those two starts and any other stars he may miss with this injury.

The Red Sox, who have already lost Daisuke Matsuzaka for the rest of the year due to Tommy John surgery, have called up Andrew Miller from Triple-A Pawtucket to take Buchholz's place in the rotation.

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