The timing for the St. Louis Cardinals seemed as if it was finally going in their favor. They recently got back Matt Holliday and Matt Carpenter from injury and were expecting Adam Wainwright to return to MLB action soon, but they've been hit with another setback.
The good news is that Wainwright was cleared for baseball activity, but the bad news is that catcher Yadier Molina suffered a "slight ligament tear" in his left thumb, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Cardinals confirmed the news on Twitter shortly after general manager John Mozeliak addressed the media.
Adam Wainwright continues to progress in his rehabilitation and is cleared for baseball-related activity.
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) September 21, 2015
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
Molina will be shut down for 5-7 days before being re-evaluated. He was initially diagnosed with a thumb sprain after the team's win over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday, but an MRI on Monday revealed the ligament tear, which is much more problematic for St. Louis.
Manager Mike Matheny said yesterday that he was concerned about Molina's injury, but he also told Goold today that it's "not that definitive that [Molina's] going to miss a lot of time."
Backup catcher Tony Cruz is expected to fill in for Molina during his absence.
As for Wainwright, the right-hander has made a tremendous recovery from his torn Achilles tendon that he suffered back in April. He was originally expected to miss the entire 2015 season, but he'll now try to return as a reliever, according to Goold. He initially wanted to come back as a starter, but perhaps the team figures Wainwright will need time to get back in a rhythm for such a role, and there's only 13 games remaining this year.
Before going down with the injury in April, Wainwright was 2-1 with a 1.44 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 18 strikeouts in four starts (18 innings). The MLB's best team will get one of the MLB's best pitchers back just in time for the postseason, which will be of big help to the pitching staff.
