Yadier Molina has second thumb surgery, adds to Cardinals pain
The St. Louis Cardinals’ less than ideal offseason continues with news that All-Star catcher Yadier Molina required a second surgery on his injured left thumb on Tuesday.
Molina, 33, suffered what the Cardinals described as a slightly torn ligament in his thumb during a game at Wrigley Field on Sept. 20. Molina was reaching out to apply a tag on Chicago’s Anthony Rizzo on a close play at home plate when Rizzo’s foot clipped Molina’s glove hand and damaged his thumb. It was a clean play all around, but the unfortunate set of circumstances ended his regular season.
Molina did attempt to play through the injury in the NLDS against Chicago, but was mostly ineffective for three games before sitting out their season-ending loss in Game 4. Shortly after that game, Molina underwent his first thumb operation which ultimately proved unsuccessful.
The spring training return date is again assuming the surgery goes well. If Molina suffers another setback and isn’t ready for the regular season, 33-year-old Brayan Pena will slide into the starting lineup. The veteran catcher signed a two-year deal with St. Louis in November after posting a solid season with Cincinnati in 2015. Pena started a career-high 84 games, hitting .273 with a career-best .334 on-base percentage. Perhaps most notable to Cardinals’ fans though, Pena threw out 13 of 58 attempted basestealers.
Pena represents a decent fallback option, but the Cardinals may be forced to add more depth with 25-year-old Michael Ohlman the only other catcher on the 40-man roster.
Looking past Molina’s obvious importance to the team, Cardinals fans really could have used any type of good news just to help take their mind off a frustrating offseason.
The Winter Meetings have now passed and several top name free agents have signed, including two of the Cardinals own in Jason Heyward and John Lackey, yet St. Louis has come up empty-handed aside from re-signing Jonathan Broxton. Only adding insult to that is the fact both Heyward and Lackey signed with the rival Chicago Cubs, which has solidified their status as World Series favorites.
[Elsewhere: Twins to install protective netting above dugouts at Target Field]
The Cardinals still have a lot of money to spend and several really good to reasonable options to spend it on, so there’s no real need to panic yet. Still, they could use a positive development before the holidays arrive, just so everyone can take a deep breath.
We know better than to bury them, of course. The Cardinals have shown unmatched resilience and resourcefulness over the years to remain relevant. But even Ronda Rousey crumbled when she took too many direct hits to the jaw.
The Cardinals have taken their share of punches and kicks already this winter, and the loss of Molina for any significant time come spring could prove devastating if they don’t start landing punches of their own.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
