The St. Louis Cardinals have been on a hot streak lately, winning three straight against one of their NL Central rivals, but if they are to continue that success, they will have to do so without one of their best players.
Catcher Yadier Molina, who left Wednesday night’s game against the Pirates with a right thumb sprain, has been re-evaluated today. It was determined Molina, a six-time all-star, suffered a torn ligament and will need surgery, which he will get Friday, July 11th.
He was injured during Wednesday’s win game while sliding into third base in the bottom of the third inning. The training staff went on to the field to check on Molina, and he was soon after taken out of the game.
Molina was scheduled to be the starting catcher in the all-star game, but that is now obviously no longer the case.
Manager Mike Matheny was asked Thursday if the Cardinals were interested in signing demoted Red Sox catcher, and former member of the White Sox, A.J Pierzynski, and Matheny responded: “We are looking at everybody…but for now we’ve brought up Audrey Perez from AAA.”
Currently, Tony Cruz is the starting catcher, and throughout the season, has had his fair share of starts, and has performed very well. The third year pro from Palm Beach, Cruz is a career .238 hitter, with two home runs, and 38 RBI’s. But those stats hardly define how well of a ballplayer he actually is. Cruz has hit .255 in the 22 games he has played in this season, with eight RBI’s, but is a lot better behind the plate than at it.
Cruz has a career fielding percentage of .996, with only three errors, over 780 innings at the catcher position. He has also thrown out 18 base-runners, while 36 have stolen on him.
Tony Cruz is an underrated baseball player. One positive for him (and the Cardinals), is that he is learning from arguably the best catcher in baseball. Losing Molina, who has hit .287 with seven home runs and 30 RBI’s this season, hurts the Cardinals, but it can be a whole lot worse.
With the All-Star Break coming up following a critical series against Milwaukee, St. Louis cannot afford to panic and collapse.
With the Reds losing their star Brandon Phillips to the same injury (although it’s the opposite thumb), the entire NL Central division is shaking up even more so than before.
St. Louis just came off their third straight win against Pittsburgh last night, and moved to eight games over .500 for the first time this season, as well as inching closer to first place in the NL Central. Coming into Thursday, the Cardinals trailed the Brewers by a mere two games, with Pittsburgh and Cincinnati not far behind.
The season is far from over. For now, Cardinals’ fans can only wish Molina a full and successful recovery, while Cruz takes the reigns behind the plate, and tries to help the Cardinals remain in the hunt for first place.
Photo Credit: (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
