St. Louis Cardinals News: Yadier Molina returning Monday

The injury to Yadier Molina was of immediate concern to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Not because the injury was ever considered serious. The Cardinals maintained that they felt the injury was minor and that Molina would miss minimal time with an ankle injury and likely would not be placed on the Injured List. It turns out he will be back even sooner than anticipated.

Molina is expected to return to the lineup on Monday, according to Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Molina’s replacement, Andrew Knizner, went 2 for 7 in his absence and recorded a double, improving his slash line to .263/.333/.368 in 19 at-bats. While the numbers are serviceable and decent for a No. 2 catcher, Knizner did not come close to making the same impact as Molina, a sure-fire Hall of Fame player who has been the backbone of the organization for nearly two decades.

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This season has arguably been one of Molina’s best, at least so far. He is hitting .339/.382/.661 with five home runs and 14 RBI in 62 at-bats. He is hitting the ball hard and doing elite work behind the plate, helping stabilize the rotation after it got off to a rocky start with the starters (except for Jack Flaherty) eating minimal innings.

The Cardinals, however, may be wise to do load management on Molina to ensure that he is healthy and fresh for a potential postseason run. In limited work, Knizner has shown that he can be somewhat productive behind the plate. But while the Cardinals may see a short-term impact by playing Knizner more, the benefits in the long haul – most notably in the postseason – might be too good for them to pass up as they look to win a World Series with Nolan Arenado in town.

Getting Molina back, of course, was the first priority. And the Cardinals are fortunate that his injury did not cause him to miss too much time.