Let’s Take A Deep Breath…

All of Cardinal Nation is in total crisis at the moment. Our beloved all-star catcher Yadier Molina is injured. Yadi obtained a thumb injury a few days back that required surgery. The medical staff indicates that Yadi will be out for eight or more weeks. Sounds awful, I know. Don’t worry, Cardinal Nation. Let’s take a deep breath, and look at the positive things going for us.

I am seeing ridiculous posts and comments about the Cardinals’ condition right now. It is easy to say that the season is now over because Molina is out with a serious thumb injury. Maybe after you’re done reading this, some weight might be lifted off of your shoulders. Just to have you guys see how we are reacting to this situation, I will pull a few comments out of the St. Louis Post Dispatch- names will be left out. Before these comments will be posted, I would like to clarify that I am not making fun of these people or insulting them in any way. I apologize in advance if I offend anybody. Seeing these comments make me think to myself “Cardinal Nation needs to lighten up”

“Turn out the lights, the party’s over.”

“We just lost our most indispensable player! Not only defensively but way he handles the pitchers!”
(Ahem, Tony Cruz may not be the starting catcher, and he may not be Yadier Molina, but he handles our pitchers pretty well.)

I’m just going to throw this one in for laughs–

“poor yadi going to draw his paycheck no matter what thank to the UNION boo hoo boo hoo its only baseball a millionaires pawn has to sit out bigdeal the sun will sill rise whaa”

I’ve seen a lot more where this came from, too.

Tony Cruz is a GREAT backup catcher. That’s right, I said it. Tony Cruz is overlooked and underrated. Cruz may not be the best offensive player, but he can be one heck of a catcher. Cruz handles our pitchers very well. Usually when we lose when he is behind the plate, it’s mostly just silly defensive errors the team made. I’m not going to say that Tony is the best catcher in the entire universe. Cruz has been seen to call pitches reasonably. Tony will not be alone, don’t forget that. Yadi will be there in the dugout to help manage and guide the team. Most importantly, he will help out Cruz along the way. Yadi will not be watching the games from home. So far this season, Cruz has caught 130.0 innings. He has done a decent job so far. Hey Cardinal Nation, do you remember when Yadi was hurt last season? Remember who replaced him? That’s right, Cruz did. He did just fine. People have GOT to understand that Cruz could EASILY be the starting catcher for most MLB teams. He’s a good player. This team will survive.

Also, Tony Cruz will NOT be the only backup catcher while Yadi is out. Cardinals GM John Mozeliak made a quick purchase with the Cleveland Indians purchasing George Kottaras. Kottaras currently has a 2014 batting average of .286 and and OBP of .385. He is also a pretty decent backup. Cruz will not be alone!

On to our next subjects. Yes, there’s more positive things to be said.

RHP Ace Adam Wainwright is back and tearing up the pitcher’s mound. Wainwright has had great returns since his injury. With Wainwright back on the bump, there is a light starting to shimmer at the end of the tunnel.

RHP Joe Kelly is back and ready for his start tonight. He had good outings in his rehab starts in AAA Memphis. Kelly will be the start of the positive outcomes to come for the Cardinals.

Michael Wacha is slowly but surely recovering as well. Media says that he still has a couple more weeks until he is ready to get back in action but it will be worth the wait! Sure, he couldn’t come back soon enough. Just let him rest up and get back to healthy!

The last major optimistic thing that Cardinal Nation needs to remember is that the bats are starting to heat up. Knowingly Allen Craig is having a huge slump, as well as some other players- but players like Matt Adams, Jhonny Peralta, and Kolten Wong are giving us hope. Adams is hitting an average over .500 with the past couple of series. Little offense notes like that should give people at least a little bit of optimism.

Hear me out, Cardinal Nation. Even though things are looking dark with Yadi out, things will be okay. The Cardinals may not be the same team we have known for the past couple of years, but we have to look at the positives. No, managing hasn’t been the best, either. Hopefully Mike Matheny will straighten himself out eventually and the team will deal with his managing…flaws.

Let’s just look on the bright side and let this all flatten out. We have to stop acting like spoiled brats and accept that this team has flaws. The Cardinals are not robots. They are human beings that get injured and make mistakes. Cardinal Nation also has to understand that the Cardinals are still second place in the NL Central despite everything that is going on.

TAKE A BREATH, CARDINAL FANS! We will survive.

Keep flying, Cardinal Nation.

Carly Schaber
Twitter: @Carly_Schaber

Photo credits: stltoday.com