When Yadier Molina bent over in pain at home plate after taking a swing in the sixth inning of Sunday’s NLCS Game 2, it appeared that the St. Louis Cardinals’ chances of winning went down with him. No player is more vital to the Cards than their catcher, widely viewed as the best at his position in MLB.
Soon after Molina left Game 2 with what was diagnosed as a strained oblique, reserve catcher Tony Cruz made it clear how much of a difference this made for St. Louis. Cruz allowed a passed ball in the seventh inning, giving the Giants’ Brandon Crawford a chance to advance to second base. Crawford eventually scored the go-ahead run for San Francisco, following a sacrifice bunt and RBI single. In the ninth, the Giants scored the game-tying run on a wild pitch by Trevor Rosenthal.
Would Molina have blocked that ball? Of course, we don’t know for certain. But he likely wouldn’t have tried to backhand that pitch in the dirt as Cruz did, letting the ball get away. Home run heroics from Oscar Tavaras and Kolten Wong eventually negated those defensive gaffes by Cruz and the Cardinals won Game 2, 5-4. But as the NLCS continues, St. Louis won’t overcome Molina’s absence quite so easily.
Though the Cardinals hoped that Molina’s oblique strain wasn’t serious, it’s an injury that hasn’t typically healed quickly. Perhaps we’ll see Molina again in this series — or in the World Series, if the Cardinals advance — but it doesn’t seem likely. And even if Molina does return, how effective will he be?
The snarky response is to say that a debilitated Molina is still better than Cruz or A.J. Pierzynski at catcher. Molina reportedly can’t swing a bat, and that likely means he’d have difficulty throwing as well. We’ll soon find out how true that is, as St. Louis announced that Pierzynski will start behind the plate in Tuesday’s NLCS Game 3.
Pierzynski starts at catcher for #cardinals today, as expected #nlcs #STLCards
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) October 14, 2014
Though Cruz is generally perceived as the better defensive catcher, he hit .200 with a .530 OPS in 150 plate appearances this season. He’s 0-for-2 thus far during the playoffs. Cruz really doesn’t pose much of a threat against opposing runners either, throwing out 25 percent (6-of-24) of attempted basestealers. He allowed 12 wild pitches and four passed balls in 325 regular season innings.
Yet that’s far better than Pierzynski, who’s long held a reputation of being a poor defensive catcher. His bat has been the reason he continues to hold employment in MLB. Pierzynski threw out only 18 percent (11-of-61) of opposing basestealers, while allowing 28 wild pitches and five passed balls in 721 innings at catcher.
To compare, Molina threw out 47 percent (21-for-45) of attempted basestealers this season, allowing 22 wild pitches and three passed balls in 931.2 innings behind the plate in 931.2 innings behind the plate. Limited to 110 games because of a thumb injury, he batted .282 with a .719 OPS, his worst numbers in the past four seasons.
Runs have been difficult to come by in the postseason, so it makes sense that the Cards would opt for Pierzynski. The 37-year-old veteran had a terrible year offensively, batting .251 with a .625 OPS and only five home runs. That includes the .244 average, .600 OPS and one home run he had in 88 plate appearances with St. Louis after the Red Sox designated him for assignment. Yet Pierzynski hit 17 homers and slugged .425 last year, so the obvious hope is that he can still provide some pop.
Manager Mike Matheny could presumably use Cruz in later innings as a defensive replacement. But with Molina out, the Cardinals are down to two catchers on their NLCS roster, limiting options if Pierzynski got hurt and had to leave the game. St. Louis is holding out hope that Molina could be available to play behind the plate, but his ability to throw is still uncertain.
Can the Cardinals beat the Giants without Molina? San Francisco isn’t a big basestealing team (their 56 stolen bases were fewest in the NL), so St. Louis catches a break there. But the opposing running game still needs to be controlled, while blocking pitches and framing the strike zone are still valuable skills that the Cardinals will miss without Molina. Then, of course, there’s the hole Molina’s absence creates in the batting order.
In a series that figured to go six or seven games between two closely matched teams, losing a key player — let alone one as crucial as Molina — could very well be the difference in this series, regardless of who else may come through with late-inning heroics for the Cardinals.
