NEWSLETTER
Not to be lost in the why-us that comes with any bump or bruise that your preferred team faces in the early going of the season (BE OK JAVY AND KB), most teams are dealing with something, either that popped up back in Spring Training or that has expressed itself now that the games have ratcheted up to real.
For example, the Brewers have been without one of the most important players in the league, Christian Yelich, for a while now, and the Cardinals are about to be without Yadi Molina for a while. He’s been diagnosed with a strained tendon in his right foot (STL Post-Dispatch):
The Cardinals placed their veteran backstop on the 10-day injured list Tuesday and will plunge into a stretch of 13 games in 13 days without Molina. The Gold Glove-winner injured his foot Friday night, did not play Saturday or Sunday, but cleared enough tests, according to the team, that he was back in the lineup Monday.
He caught all nine innings of Adam Wainwright’s complete game and the loss to the Phillies, but the discomfort in the foot persisted. He notified manager Mike Shildt that he did not feel well and “had trouble moving around” on Tuesday morning.
Molina, 38, is inarguably still so important to what the Cardinals do on the pitching/defense side of things, and he was actually raking to open the season (.323/.366/.631, 169 wRC+). Andrew Knizer will slide into the starting role and Ali Sanchez will come up for the Cardinals from their alternate site to be the new back-up.
