Cardinals Place Yadier Molina on 10-Day Injured List and Call Up Top Catching Prospect
By Parker White
St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina has been an iron man behind the plate, but after trying to play through it for a couple days, the team announced on Friday that they've placed Molina on the 10-day injured list with a right thumb tendon strain.
Yadier Molina (right thumb tendon strain) has been placed on the 10-day IL retroactive to May 29.
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) May 31, 2019
Rookie catcher Andrew Knizner had his contracted purchased from Memphis (AAA) and has been added to our active roster. pic.twitter.com/iT3LFrTswh
The IL move is retroactive to May 29, and to fill the void on the active roster, St. Louis has called up top catching prospect Andrew Knizner from Triple-A Memphis.
Knizner, 24, could very well be the future behind the dish when Molina calls it a career. In 37 games at Triple-A this season, Knizner is slashing .286/.355/.450 with five home runs and 17 RBI.
#STLCards call up catcher Andrew Knizner from @memphisredbirds for his #MLB debut, place Yadier Molina on the 10-day IL. Here's the scouting report on Knizner, the @Cardinals' No. 2 prospect: https://t.co/9nKH5nWB2K pic.twitter.com/TeMok3b4nd
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 31, 2019
Molina, 36, is not the hitter he was six or seven years ago, but in 50 games this year he's slashing .265/.294/.397 with four home runs and 33 RBI while still playing Gold Glove caliber defense.
This is a huge loss for the Cardinals, especially their young pitching staff that has struggled mightily this past month. Hopefully, Knizner will give this team a boost and pick up the slack.