This is pretty awful news for Yadier Molina, and to a lesser extent the Cardinals, and to a lesser extent still every man everywhere.
In yesterday’s game, Molina had to leave early in extreme pain after this happened:
https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/992876362670268422
Although yesterday was a metaphorical ball to the nuts for the Cubs, the literal end got Molina and the Cardinals.
And it was actually a very serious situation, as Molina suffered a hematoma (bleeding) that required emergency surgery:
UPDATE: More information Molina's recovery, emergecy surgery, and the roster moves #stlcards are making in the coming minutes this morning. Two DL moves planned. Kelly and reliever to be added: https://t.co/TXMGJ6JD4s #Cardinals #MLB
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) May 6, 2018
Speaking with some experience thanks to a complication from a vasectomy, I can tell you that – let’s be adults for a minute – a hematoma in your scrotum is especially bad because there is nothing in there to stop the bleeding. There’s just a lot of open space for the blood to fill, which can be both dangerous and extremely painful. It may actually be a good thing that Molina had surgery immediately, as that may have limited some of the bleeding and could improve his recovery time.
For now, the Cardinals say he’ll be out at least four weeks, and that sounds about right, because the only thing that can take care of the residue from the hematoma is time.
The loss for the Cardinals will be felt most acutely in Molina’s defense and work with the pitching staff, but Carson Kelly is one of the better young catchers in the game, so they are relatively well-equipped for this.
The series so far has been great for the Cardinals in the standings, but brutal on the injury front. In addition to Molina, the Cardinals have seen Dominic Leone, Tommy Pham, and Bud Norris all go down. It remains to be seen how long those guys will be out, though Leone is going on the DL with Molina in advance of today’s game.