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| Yadier Molina's injury a huge loss for STL. Photo Credit: AP |
With the injuries of Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina and Red’s second baseman Brandon Phillips, the NL Central race just got allot more wide open and unpredictable.
By: Michael Hanley
Yadier Molina is out 8-12 weeks with a torn ligament in his right thumb. He exited the game after he slid into third base on a play. It was a foot first slide into the third base bag, so the injury did not come as a direct result of his slide.
This is a big blow to the Cardinals, as Molina has been such a source of strength and consistency for the franchise over his years. To give you a few examples of that consistency, from the year 2009-2013 he started at least 128 games every season in that span of time, remarkable for his position which can be so physically demanding and wear down players over a span of a regular season.
It also was amazing to see that not only was he able to stay behind the plate for so many games but also make himself into quite the dangerous hitter. He provides a solid bat in the bottom of their order that can be relied upon for RBIs and some power with an occasional home run.
One more example of Molina’s consistency is since the 2006 season he has played in 1.083 games as a catcher, by far the most at his position during that time. It is a loss that Saint Louis will never be able to fully fill but they do have options. Tony Cruz and the newly acquired George Kottaras will be two catchers who will have their opportunities to step up and try to fill the void left by Molina.
As for Phillips, he will be out for approximately six weeks after suffering a torn ligament in his left thumb. The injury occurred on a diving defensive stop he was making in the infield during Wednesday’s game. This comes at an unfortunate time as the Reds were making inroads on Milwaukee’s lead in the NL Central with their recent hot stretch of play.
This is a rare trip to the disabled list for Philips as he has been one of the more durable player sin all of major league baseball over the last five plus years. This will be his first trip to the DL since the 2008 season when he broke a finger. A shining example of that durability is this: since 2006, Phillips has played in at least 140 games per season, including playing in 150 games per season four out of the last five seasons. It is such a rare commodity to have a player with that high level of sustainability and consistency especially in a sport where you play a 162 game regular season.
Phillips was having a solid year for Cincinnati as he was batting .272 with seven home runs and 40 RBIs on the season. His offense is very key no doubt to the offense of the Reds but more than anything else, his defensive abilities to cover such a wide swath of ground in the section of infield he plays is something that is irreplaceable no matter who they put in his place.
Speaking of who they will put in Philip's place for the time being, veteran utility man Ramon Santiago at second base. He like Phillips is more valued for his glove work in the infield rather than what he can do with his bat. Santiago is hitting just .235 so far this season.
These two injuries can play significantly into how this NL Central division race plays out the rest of the regular season. The Brewers have hit the skids recently as they were just swept at home by a last place team in the Phillies. Their pitching has not been as consistent as it was earlier in the season and the hitting has taken a turn for the worse. The Reds and cardinals though both teams are well in the mix for the division title have had to battle major injury setbacks recently.
The team I think set to be the big winner in all of this is the Pirates. They have gotten their act together and are starting to put together consistent performances. They are healthy again at the key spots and the pitching overall has stepped up and become a reliable strength for them game in and out. They sit only three games back of Milwaukee with plenty of baseball left to be played. Pittsburgh should be a team to be watched to see if they can make that push to the top of the division, they have the lineup and pitching to do so. However this all turns out, we are in for quite a division race for the second half of this season in the NL Central.
