Yadier Molina is day-to-day for NLCS; Cardinals hope he can still contribute
SAN FRANCISCO — The St. Louis Cardinals haven’t made any hasty decisions regarding their catcher and cornerstone Yadier Molina, who left Sunday night’s Game 2 of the National League Championship Series with a strained left oblique.
Manager Mike Matheny said Monday that Molina is “day-to-day” and will remain on the team’s postseason roster. Matheny said he believes Molina can still help the team in the series, possibly as a short-inning defensive replacement. During St. Louis’ workout Monday, Molina played catch, an encouraging sign.
“I was very surprised with how well he was able to throw the ball,” Matheny said. “I didn’t think there was any possibility, having that injury myself [before].”
Matheny didn’t name his starting catcher for Tuesday’s Game 3 — both Tony Cruz and A.J. Pierzynski are available on the roster — but it sounded like there was little chance Molina would be in that role. Molina hasn’t yet tried to swing a bat, Matheny said, which is where an oblique injury would most inhibit a player.
The Cardinals have two options: Keep Molina on the roster and play a man down the rest of the series, or replace him on the roster and leave Molina ineligible to play in the World Series, should they make it.
Molina left Game 2 in the sixth inning, when he grounded into a double play and couldn’t even run to first base after making contact. With Molina out of the game, Cruz proved just how valuable Yadi is to the Cards. Cruz couldn’t block a crucial wild pitch that allowed the Giants to tie the game in the ninth inning off St. Louis closer Trevor Rosenthal.
After Game 2, the Cardinals weren’t ready to commit one way or another about Molina’s status for the rest of the series. Matheny said it “didn’t look good,” however. According to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch, the Cardinals held their charter plane to S.F. on Sunday night to get Molina on it.
The Cards played without Molina some this season, so they have an idea of what they’re facing without their leader. He missed 40 games in July and August after a thumb injury that required surgery. The Cardinals were 21-19 during that time.
Pierzynski was added to the Cardinals’ roster for the NLCS, a move that is paying off for St. Louis. In fact, the Cardinals signed Pierzynski in July after Molina’s thumb injury. He was released by the Boston Red Sox two weeks earlier. Should Pierzynski start in Game 3, he’d be matched up with John Lackey, who also played for the Red Sox this season and is starting Tuesday for the Cardinals.
“When you lose a guy of his caliber, there’s always going to be a hole for sure,” Lackey said, adding Pierzynski would at least be a comfortable replacement for him. “I threw to him a bunch in Boston.”
Matheny stressed that having Molina around the team would be a boost to the Cardinals— even if he doesn’t take another swing or throw down to second base again in the series.
“We’ll take him in any capacity,” Matheny said. “Even if it’s a cheerleader on the bench.”
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Mike Oz is an editor for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
