The St. Louis Cardinals received encouraging news on catcher Yadier Molina. He has a partially torn ligament in his left thumb. The injury occurred on Sunday when Molina tagged Cubs’ first baseman Anthony Rizzo who was trying to score to tie the game. He will be evaluated later in the week or next week to determine how long he will be out. According to ESPN, Manager of the St. Louis Cardinals John Mozeliak said, “I think this is sort of the best news we could hope for.” Who will replace him in the lineup?
Molina is an All-Star catcher for St. Louis. This year he is hitting .270 with four home runs and 61 RBI’s. The Cardinals will miss him at the plate because he gets on base and scores runs. Molina is one of the top catchers in Major League Baseball. He rarely ever drops a ball and throws runners out trying to steal.
This is not the worst news for Molina. He will be back in the lineup and won’t be forced to sit two months like last year. During that season, he was out for two months with a torn ligament in his right thumb. This latest injury isn’t as severe.
St. Louis will be forced to use Tony Cruz as the every day catcher. Cruz isn’t Yadier Molina. In 104 at bats, Cruz is hitting .173 with seven RBI’s. Cruz isn’t a bad backup. Cruz doesn’t have the strong arm defensively and offensively he doesn’t get on base as often as Molina.
St. Louis has to be glad this injury happened in the regular season. They can afford to let Molina rest his injury and be back in time for the playoffs. If this occurred in the postseason, the Cardinals might not have gone that far because he means too much to the team. He will be back this season. If they are still battling with Pittsburgh and Chicago for the NL Central Division crown, he should appear in the important games but don’t rush him back too soon. They wouldn’t want Molina to have another injury that could put him on the shelf for however long their post season run could last.
What will the injury to Yadier Molina mean for the St. Louis Cardinals?
Leave a Reply