Daniel Descalso hit his first home run of the season to help the Cardinals best the Pirates 4-1 on Friday. Descalso finished the night 1-for-4 with that solo blast off of Jared Hughes in the ninth inning. He's only hitting .200 (8-for-40) on the season, but with Tyler Greene also struggling perhaps this long ball will give Descalso a leg up in the second base competition.

Daniel Descalso will start at second base on Opening Night Wednesday against the Marlins. Tyler Greene should still get plenty of playing time on the St. Louis infield this season, but it seems that Descalso will get first crack at the everyday second base gig.

Daniel Descalso drove in four runs with a pair of doubles to lead the Cardinals to a 6-2 win over the Nationals on Saturday. With a .288 average, 12 walks and seven extra-base hits in 59 at-bats, Descalso has outshined Tyler Greene all spring. Still, it looks like he'll be a utilityman anyway. We'd still rate him the better option of the two in NL-only leagues.

Daniel Descalso doubled twice Thursday in the Cardinals' 9-6 win over the Red Sox. Descalso's average dropped to .429 today, but he'll take it. He's 9-for-21 with seven walks this spring as he attempts to win the starting job at second base in St. Louis. He's running circles around Tyler Greene so far.

Daniel Descalso singled, walked three times and scored twice in the Cardinals' 5-4 win over the Braves on Monday. Descalso is 6-for-13 with a homer and five walks this spring as he attempts to win a starting job at second base. He seems to us to be the better option than Tyler Greene. For what little it's worth, Greene went 0-for-3 in the Cardinals' other split squad, leaving him 2-for-12 so far.

Daniel Descalso went 2-for-4 and homered Wednesday against the Nationals. While the talk at the end of last season was that Descalso would likely be the Cardinals' second baseman, sentiment has swung towards Tyler Greene's side this spring. Descalso looks like the better option to us, but since both will be on the roster regardless, this is one competition that should continue into the regular season.

Cardinals GM John Mozeliak said he's projecting Daniel Descalso as the team's 2012 second baseman. That likely means that Skip Schumaker will be non-tendered. Descalso is a better defensive infielder and can probably match Schumaker's production offensively. The 25-year-old batted .264/.334/.353 with a homer and 28 RBI in 326 at-bats this season while playing all over the diamond.

Though he wouldn't call the situation a true platoon, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa acknowledged that Daniel Descalso will continue to see more starts at shortstop against righties. Ryan Theriot is slumping terribly in July, particularly against right-handers. Descalso, meanwhile, has batted over .300 since the beginning of June and played surprisingly good defense at short despite the face he had never played there in his pro career prior to this season. Nick Punto also seems likely to start seeing more starts at short.

Daniel Descalso went 4-for-6 with two runs and two RBI in the Cardinals' 9-8 setback to the Reds on Wednesday. Descalso earned the rare start over regular third baseman David Freese. It was the second four-hit game of his career (the first coming in his second major league start last September). The big day pushed his average up to .256.