St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina returned to Mike Matheny's lineup for the National League Division Series after missing nearly three weeks with a sprained thumb suffered when Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo slid into his glove tagging up on a fly ball Sept. 20.
But the seven-time All-Star appeared to aggravate the injury during the Cubs' 8-6 win over the Cardinals in Game 3 of the NLDS Monday when he swung and missed at a Jake Arrieta slider in the top of the fourth. Molina let go of the bat with his left hand and grimaced in pain, but remained in the game through the end of the fifth inning. Brandon Moss pinch-hit for him in the top of the sixth and Tony Cruz took over behind the plate for the rest of the game.
"For him to come out, I think people that follow our team closely know that that's significant as far as what it must feel like," Matheny said. "We could tell a little bit in how he was catching today, particularly when you saw the one particular swing. But watched him in all the warm ups and watched him in BP, he looked good. You just never know with that particular injury, if there's a ball that gets fouled off or a swing that doesn't quite feel right, could set him backwards."
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Molina played in his 88th postseason game Monday night, the ninth-most in major league history. While the 33-year-old Molina had the worst offensive season since 2006 this year -- he hit .270 with a .660 OPS and four home runs -- his steady defensive presence behind the plate helped him retain plenty of his value to the 100-win Cardinals. If he's unable to play Tuesday, backup Tony Cruz -- a career .220 hitter with a .572 OPS -- would start in a win-or-go-home game at Wrigley Field.
Matheny, though, sounded somewhat optimistic Molina's thumb could be managed well enough for him to play in Game 4.
"We're going to let the medical guys get their hands on him," Matheny said. "Part of the messaging with him is let's try and get ahead of this until before it goes any further to where we had to rule Yad out all together. Let's see what they can do, see if they can once again support that thumb in a way that he can continue to play and just see if maybe getting him out a little early can help us as we move forward."