With the good news came the bad news.
The St. Louis Cardinals received a boost to their playoff pitching picture on Monday, but the leaders in the National League Central also took what could end up being a significant hit to their lineup and defense.
Ace Adam Wainwright, believed to be shelved for the entire season after he ripped up his Achilles tendon coming out of the batter’s box on April 25, has been cleared to resume baseball activities. That gives the Cardinals hope that Wainwright could pitch for them out of the bullpen, as he did during their 2006 World Series run, during this postseason and possibly even before the end of the regular season.
The hurtful blow was losing catcher Yadier Molina, one of the premier defensive catchers in the sport, to a torn ligament in his left thumb. Molina will be sidelined for at least seven days and be reevaluated within the next week. If his prognosis does not improve, it is possible the Cardinals won’t have their starting catcher for the playoffs.
Molina does not need surgery, and the tear is less severe than the one Molina suffered last year in his right thumb, which ended up costing the seven-time All-Star 40 games. That is the encouraging part for the Cardinals.
If the Cardinals clinch the division, they would not play their first playoff game until Oct. 9. General manager John Mozeliak gave a status update after the game:
Mozeliak, "Molina has a slight torn ligament in his left thumb. We're optimistic he'll return this regular season." pic.twitter.com/Fzji6y9och
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) September 21, 2015
"There's a reason to have some optimism," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny told Jennifer Langosch of MLB.com. "When he slid into third base last year, there was instantly, 'OK, this is going to be a while.' That is not the same message we're hearing right now. Right now, it's not definitive that he's going to be out for a long period of time, which, for us, is good news."
The Cardinals need that, because if Molina is out for any significant time and has to miss some or all of the postseason, it is a crippling blow to not only the offense, but the pitching staff as well.
Molina is hitting .270/.310/.350 with four home runs and an 80 OPS+, his worst season since 2010. But Molina’s numbers in the postseason are good. He has hit .290/.344/.375 with a .719 OPS in 86 games (335 plate appearances). In a struggling Cardinals offense, that kind of production could end up being much needed by the time the playoffs roll around.
The bigger issue is losing Molina behind the plate. He has a stellar reputation for handling pitching staffs, blocking balls and controlling the running game as well as anyone who has ever put on the tools of ignorance.
This year’s Cardinals pitching staff had a major league-best 2.92 ERA entering Monday. When throwing to Molina, it has as 2.79 ERA. That goes up to 3.70 when throwing to Molina’s backup, Tony Cruz, who will be the starting catcher until Molina returns.
Losing Molina for any part of the postseason would greatly impact the team’s chances of advancing just based on how he works with the pitchers—the team’s biggest strength.
"Hands in the game of baseball are so important, whether it's receiving or throwing, because you need them both to hit," Mozeliak told Langosch. "We'll see when we can start testing it from an offensive standpoint. In the meantime, we'll look at different ways that we can help protect the hand."
Wainwright’s return could soften the blow of losing Molina, assuming he’s out for any meaningful time. Wainwright is scheduled to throw a simulated game this coming weekend, but because of the time remaining in the season, he would not be stretched out enough to start.
That is fine for the Cardinals, because the last time Wainwright pitched out of the bullpen in the postseason, he was as dominant as a reliever could possibly be with a 0.00 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 9.2 innings, although he did blow a save in the World Series (yet ended up with the win).
That was in 2006, and if he is 100 percent healthy, 2015 could give the Cardinals that same kind of weapon next month.
“I think I would have a much higher confidence level to have him throw in-season before you would put him on the [playoff] roster,” Mozeliak told Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
“He's awfully optimistic. If you'll recall last time he was in the bullpen, he was pretty good. I would imagine it would look just like that."
If Wainwright were to be that good again, it would go a long way in absorbing the possible loss of Molina in the postseason. For now, the Cardinals are in the fluid state of wait-and-see.
All quotes, unless otherwise specified, have been acquired first-hand by Anthony Witrado. Follow Anthony on Twitter @awitrado and talk baseball here.
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