The Cardinals plan to put catcher Yadier Molina on the injury list tomorrow, Athletic’s Katie Woo reported. Molina has been battling knee pain this year and will be sidelined for “at least a few weeks”. Catching prospect Evan Herrera will be recalled to take his place on the active roster.
Molina, 39, is a career cardinal, drafted by the team in 2000. In August last year, he and the team agreed to a one-year, 10MM extension, Molina announced the next day that 2022 would be his last season. The dream that he and the club had hoped for did not come true, as he has slipped to the .213 / .225 / .294 batting line on the campaign so far. It is only 47 wRC +, although it appears that knee problems are affecting it, as Woo reported that he has been experiencing this pain for years.
According to reports, Molina received several cortisone shots last weekend to ease the pain. The club needed an extra 48-hour period for the shots to be effective, but Molina clearly tried to go beyond that schedule. He then caught the game on Tuesdays and Wednesdays this week, though apparently not low enough to keep playing.
With Molina on the shelf, the Cardinals will now turn to the other two options for holding duties, both of which come with anonymity. With the .198 / .283 / .257 line, 63 wRC +, Andrew Nizner has created the second part of the club’s catching tandem this year, though he hasn’t impressed much. Despite having more time to play with Molina’s knee problems, Woo talked to Cardinals manager Oli Marmol about Nizner’s disappointing results. “It’s been a lot harder when you’ve been backing up Yadi over the years,” Marmol said. “Now he (Nizner) is three times a week, four times a week, expectations are no longer ‘trying to find my time.’ You have a real chance, so expectations are different. He knows this. Now, he just wants to go. ”
Joining Nizner on the roster will be Herrera, who has been named by Fangraph, Athletic’s Keith Law and ESPN’s Kylie McDaniel as one of the top 100 prospects in baseball. When Molina went on the mourning list earlier this year, she was briefly called up to the big leagues, but she only came in one game and didn’t see the plate. In addition, he has spent years in Triple-A dropping an impressive .291 / .388 / .436 line for 125 wRC +. He will now have a fair chance to see if he can hone his skills to the Major, although according to his first taste of big league action, it is common for even the most prestigious individuals to struggle.
This situation is now a big unknown for the Cardinals which needs to be resolved in the coming weeks. The club currently tops the NL Central Division standings with a 37-28 record, although it is far from a secure perch. They are just one and a half games ahead of the Brewers, one game behind the Giants for tonight’s final wild card spot. With just six weeks to go before the trade deadline, the cards will have to decide if their in-house options are sufficient in the last few months of the season. Of course, much will depend on how Molina’s knees heal and how Nizner and Herrera behave in the next game, although none of these trio seem capable of working, the Cards will need outside help. .
