The St. Louis Cardinals, who have quickly been closing the gap on the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central race, received some very bad news on Thursday. Starting All-Star catcher, and team MVP, Yadier Molina will be out for the next 2-3 months with a torn ligament in his right thumb. (SIA Profile)
Molina hurt his thumb, and was replaced in last night’s game by Tony Cruz, following a slide into third base. What makes the injury even weirder is the fact that it was a foot first slide.
Molina is hitting .287/.341/.409 (109 OPS+) with 16 doubles and seven home runs this season. He hit .313/.361/.481 (130 OPS+) from 2011-13, and is considered by most analysts as the best defensive catcher in all of baseball, for his work on throwing out would be base-runners as well as his handling of a relatively young Cardinals pitching staff.
It is simply not possible for the Cardinals to replace what Yadier Molina means to the team. That said, in Molina’s absence the Cardinals will rely on Tony Cruz and Audry Perez behind the plate. Cruz has been Molina’s backup since 2012 and has hit .233/.270/.323 (63 OPS+) over his two and a half seasons with St. Louis.
The Cardinals have a 50-42 record. They sit just 2.0 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for first place in the NL Central, and are tied for the second and final playoff spot in the National League.
While no official announcements have been made, it is expected that Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy will get Molina’s starting spot in Tuesday’s All-Star game. While Buster Posey or Miguel Montero will likely take Molina’s spot on the NL All-Star roster.
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