Coming off a World Series title, the St. Louis Cardinals looked poised to make another run at the playoffs, continuing their streak of reaching the postseason every year this decade. Then, the first game happened.

Pitcher Chris Carpenter, their ace and a former Cy Young winner, lasted all of 6 innings before his season ended. Carpenter hurt his elbow, and ended up having reconstructive elbow surgery, sidelining him for at least a year.

That malady started a trend that saw every starter except one from that game spend time on the disabled list. Five of those players ended up having season ending surgery at some point. Only Albert Pujols avoided the D.L., but he played most of the season battling leg and elbow injuries, and it looks as if his season could be over now as well.

It wasn't only the starters that were injured. Valuable bench players, relievers and other starting pitchers were injured at some point during the season.

Here is a look at every starting player, followed by starting pitchers, relievers and bench players who have been injured or spent time on the D.L. this season.

Starting Line-Up

C - Yadier Molina: The Cards catcher fractured his left wrist in May, landing him on the D.L. for nearly the entire month of June.

1B - Albert Pujols: Never missed significant time until recently, but he has played through various leg and elbow injuries, and now he may be done for the rest of this season.

2B - Adam Kennedy: Kennedy was having a horrendous year, and that was compounded by a knee injury in August, ending his season.

3B - Scott Rolen: The perennial Gold Glover was never right in '07, as he continued to struggle with a shoulder that had been operated on twice. The shoulder progressively got worse, leading to his worst season in baseball. He was shut down in early September.

SS - David Eckstein: Eckstein missed nearly a month with a back injury, and he has struggled with it most of the year.

LF - Chris Duncan: The left fielder had a great first half, but was awful after the All-Star break. As it turns out, he had a sports hernia and underwent season-ending surgery.

CF - Jim Edmonds: Jimmy Ballgame started the year at less than 100%, and he was never fully healthy. He suffered from a pinched nerve in his lower back and missed more than a month of action.

RF - Juan Encarnacion: Encarnacion started the year on the D.L. as he recovered from offseason wrist surgery. A freak accident saw him get hit in the eye by a foul ball while standing in the on-deck circle in August. Not only did that end his season, it may end his career. Cardinals team doctor George Paletta called it, "the worst trauma I've seen."

Pitchers

SP - Chris Carpenter: As mentioned above, Carpenter pitched 6 innings before his season was over. 2008 is in jeopardy as well.

SP - Mark Mulder: Mulder started the year on the D.L. after having rotator cuff surgery last season. He pitched in a few games this year before shutting it down due to soreness. It was recently learned he must undergo another operation on the shoulder, ending his year.

SP - Braden Looper: The surprisingly effective Looper suffered from tendinitis in July, landing him on the D.L.

SP - Mike Maroth: After being blasted in start after start, Maroth went on the disabled list with what was called elbow tendinitis.

RP - Tyler Johnson: Johnson, a valuable lefty out of the pen, missed nearly two months with a shoulder injury.

RP - Josh Kinney: Kinney's season was over before it began. After serving an important role in the bullpen in the '06 postseason, Kinney had Tommy John surgery before spring training.

RP - Todd Wellemeyer: Wellemeyer was a mid-season addition who was used as both a starter and reliever. He missed a chunk of time due to a sprained elbow.

RP - Josh Hancock: As most people know, Hancock passed away due to a drunk driving accident in April.

Bench Players

OF - Preston Wilson: Wilson played in just a handful of games before going down for the season with a knee injury. The injury may end his career.

UTIL - Scott Spiezio: Not only did Spiezio miss time due to injury, he also missed five weeks while undergoing treatment for substance abuse.

In total, that makes 18 players who have had to miss time this year, including every member of their starting line-up and their two best pitchers.