NL Injury Notes: Voth, Naquin, Molina, Mets
Nationals pitcher Austin Voth suffered a broken nose after being hit in the face by a Vince Velasquez pitch. In the third inning of today’s 12-6 Nats loss to the Phillies, Voth squared to bunt but couldn’t avoid Velasquez’s off-target fastball in time. Voth did walk off the field under his own power, and Washington manager Davey Martinez told reporters (including Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com) that the right-hander would have his nose reset tonight.
Today was Voth’s first official start of the season, though it was intended as something of a glorified opener/piggyback outing since Voth has worked out of the bullpen all season. After inconsistent results as a starter over his first three seasons, Voth has delivered strong bottom-line results in the form of a 2.73 ERA over 29 2/3 innings in his multi-inning reliever role, though advanced metrics (like a 92.3% strand rate and a .239 BABIP) indicate some good fortune.
Martinez also related the incident to the league’s efforts to crack down on pitchers’ use of foreign substances on the ball, saying that “you’ll see more [hit by pitches] if we keep messing around with the stuff about the balls. I understand them trying to clean some stuff up. But it’s hot, it’s slippery, it’s sweaty. I know Velasquez didn’t throw in there intentionally, but I’m afraid that if we don’t come up with something unified for everybody, you’ll see a lot more of that. And that’s a scary feeling.”
More injury updates from the Senior Circuit…
- Tyler Naquin left Sunday’s 8-7 Reds victory over the Cardinals due to left hamstring tightness. Naquin took something of an awkward slide into second base in the first inning, and was replaced by a pinch-hitter for his next plate appearance in the top of the third. Naquin has cooled down after a scorching-hot opening month of the season, but the outfielder still has an impressive .257/.333/.509 slash line and 11 homers over 189 plate appearances while emerging as Cincinnati’s everyday center fielder. Reds manager David Bell told MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon and other reporters that the removal was precautionary in nature, and Naquin could be back as early as Tuesday for the Reds’ next game.
- Yadier Molina left yesterday’s game after taking a foul tip off his kneecap, and the veteran catcher wasn’t in today’s Cardinals lineup. However, manager Mike Shildt told reporters (including Stu Durando of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch) that “it looks like a little-bit-of-rest situation” and that Molina might have been able to play today in the event of an emergency. The Cards have off-days both tomorrow and Thursday, so Molina might not miss much time even if he does need more than a day to recover.
- There isn’t much new progress with the status of either Brandon Nimmo or J.D. Davis, as neither Mets regular seems close to a return. As Mets manager Luis Rojas told The New York Daily News’ Deesha Thosar and other reporters, Nimmo is taking swings but not off a tee or against actual pitches, as he continues to recover from a nerve problem in his left index finger. Davis isn’t swinging whatsoever, as his sprained left hand will be in a splint for the next few days. Jonathan Villar is battling a tight hamstring and wasn’t in today’s starting lineup, as Rojas said the team is being cautious with Villar after he was able to come off the bench on both Friday and Saturday.
Yadier Molina Leaves Game Due To Left Knee Contusion
Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina made an early exit from today’s game due to a left knee contusion. Reds shortstop Kyle Farmer sent a foul tip off of Molina’s kneecap in the top of the fourth inning, though Molina remained in the game after taking a few moments to walk the pain off. Andrew Knizner then pinch-hit for Molina in the bottom half of the inning.
It remains to be seen if Molina’s contusion is a day-to-day situation (and an injury not uncommon for a catcher), or if it’s an injury that may require more time off, or an injured-list placement. Molina already missed 11 games this season on the 10-day IL due to a tendon strain in his right foot.
Molina is hitting .277/.314/.493 over 159 plate appearances, with much of that damage coming prior to his IL visit. He hit a scorching .323/.366/.631 over his first 71 PA, and the veteran backstop has perhaps unsurprisingly cooled off after that big start.
Cardinals Activate Yadier Molina
The Cardinals have activated Yadier Molina from the 10-day injured list, per the Athletic’s Katie Woo (via Twitter). Molina is in the lineup for today’s game against the Rockies. Molina last appeared in a game on April 26th.
Ali Sanchez has been optioned to Triple-A. Sanchez, 24, made just one start, going 1-for-3 with a double. Most of the playing time has been taken by Andrew Knizner, the presumptive catcher of the future, should Molina ever slow down. The 26-year-old Knizner has slashed .208/.276/.264 through 58 plate appearances.
As for Molina, he’ll continue in his 18th career season. When we saw him last, he was as good as he’s ever been with the stick, slashing .326/.366/.631 with five home runs in 71 plate appearances.
Cardinals Place Yadier Molina On 10-Day IL
The Cardinals have placed catcher Yadier Molina on the 10-day injured list with a right foot tendon strain, Zachary Silver of MLB.com tweets. The team recalled catcher Ali Sanchez in a corresponding move.
Molina suffered the injury last Friday against the Reds, forcing him to leave early and miss the Cardinals’ games over the weekend. However, he did return to their lineup Monday in Philadelphia.
The Cardinals’ offense ranks a middle-of-the-pack 14th in runs scored and a less-than-stellar 23rd in wRC+, though Molina has certainly done his part. Re-signed to a one-year, $9MM contract in the offseason, the career-long Card has batted an excellent .323/.366/.631 with five home runs in 71 plate appearances. Behind the plate, the nine-time Gold Glove winner has thrown out an above-average 29 percent of would-be base thieves.
With Molina landing on the shelf, Andrew Knizner will handle the primary catching duties during a grueling stretch in which St. Louis will play 13 games in 13 days. Knizner has totaled 21 PA this year and hit a respectable .263/.333/.368.
Cardinals Notes: Molina, O’Neill, Carpenter
Yadier Molina left Friday night’s game due to right foot soreness, after appearing to hurt his foot on a swing during a fifth-inning at-bat. Molina struck out on the wayward swing, and was replaced by Andrew Knizner at catcher in the top of the sixth. Molina will undergo testing to determine the extent of the injury, and any sort of absence would represent a big loss to the St. Louis lineup. Over his first 68 plate appearances, Molina is hitting a scorching .339/.382/.661 with five home runs, with a 180 OPS+ that ranks tied for 14th among all qualified batters in the majors. While this level of offensive production wasn’t expected to continue, it was at least a good sign that Molina was bouncing back from a pair of subpar years at the plate.
More from The Gateway City…
- In other Cardinals injury news, Tyler O’Neill was activated off the 10-day IL yesterday. O’Neill saw some action in the 5-4 victory over the Reds, entering the game as the new left fielder during a double-switch in the sixth inning, though he didn’t start due to a minor foot injury. Manager Mike Shildt told reporters (including Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat) that O’Neill fouled a ball off his foot during a simulated game on Thursday, though obviously the issue wasn’t serious enough to either prevent O’Neill’s IL activation, or to keep the outfielder from taking the field. O’Neill hit the injured list due to a groin strain back on April 11, and is looking to get on track after hitting only .138/.167/.276 in his first 30 PA of this young season.
- With O’Neill back and Harrison Bader also approaching a return from his forearm injury, Matt Carpenter looks like the odd man out of the Cardinals lineup. President of baseball operations John Mozeliak told reporters (including Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch) that “those at-bats are going to be more difficult to find if production isn’t there” for Carpenter, who has an .077/.213/.154 slash line in 47 plate appearances. Despite some outstanding hard-contact numbers, Carpenter is striking out and swinging-and-missing at a high volume, Frederickson notes, while also posting a career-worst walk rate. It represents the low point of over two seasons of struggles for Carpenter, who has been a below-average hitter since the start of the 2019 campaign. The Cardinals had already addressed this decline by relegating Carpenter to a part-time role at best heading into the season, and Mozeliak’s comments suggest that Carpenter could be hard-pressed to receive any significant playing time going forward. Carpenter is in the final guaranteed year of a two-year, $39MM extension, and though Frederickson said that there wasn’t any indication that the Cardinals might simply eat the remaining salary by releasing Carpenter, it doesn’t make much sense to use a roster spot on a scuffling player who isn’t part of the team’s future plans.
NL Notes: Reds/Cardinals Brawl, Castellanos, Padres, Baez
Outfielder Nick Castellanos was issued a two-game suspension for his part in Saturday’s brawl between the Reds and Cardinals, the league announced. Castellanos was the only player suspended, and he is appealing his two-game ban. Fines were issued to three players on each team — the Reds’ Castellanos, Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez, and the Cardinals’ Jordan Hicks, Yadier Molina, and Nolan Arenado.
The incident developed after Cards pitcher Jake Woodford hit Castellanos with a pitch during a fourth-inning at-bat. Castellanos wasn’t pleased by the HBP, and picked up the ball and held it in Woodford’s direction as he went to first base. Later in the inning, Castellanos scored from third on a wild pitch, and celebrated the run by standing over Woodford (who was covering home plate) and flexing. This led to the benches clearing, and a lot of shoving and heated words between the two NL Central rivals.
More from the division….
- The Padres hope to have Trent Grisham back in center field when they travel to play the Rangers on April 9, manager Jayce Tingler told Jim Duquette of MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (via Twitter). Grisham has been out of action since suffering a hamstring strain during a Spring Training game on March 11, though he did play in some simulated games at the end of camp. Austin Nola isn’t quite as far along in his rehab from a fractured left middle finger, but he could soon get some plate appearances at the Padres’ alternate training site.
- The Cubs drafted Javier Baez with the ninth overall pick of the 2011 draft, a selection that has proven to be a winner even though Baez was one of many notable players taken in an unusually star-studded first round. As Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune writes, the Cubs were set on Baez as their pick, though they were eyeing Jose Fernandez and C.J. Cron as Plan B options if Baez was selected by one of the eight teams picking in front of Chicago. Tim Wilken, the Cubs’ director of amateur scouting at the time, said that the club would have taken Baez even if another star shortstop prospect in Francisco Lindor was still on the board — it ended up being a moot point, as Cleveland took Lindor with the eighth overall pick, just ahead of Baez and the Cubs at ninth.
Cardinals To Re-Sign Yadier Molina
7:49pm: Molina will earn $9MM, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network. He’s a client of MDR Sports Management.
7:24pm: It will be a one-year agreement, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets.
6:50pm: The Cardinals are nearing a deal to re-sign free-agent catcher Yadier Molina, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. This isn’t a remotely surprising development, as multiple sources reported a little over a week ago that Molina would remain in St. Louis.
Molina has been a Cardinal dating back to the 2000 draft, when they chose him in the fourth round. He debuted in the majors in 2004 and has since batted .281/.333/.404 with 160 home runs in 2,025 plate appearances, though simply citing his offensive numbers doesn’t do Molina justice. He is, after all, a nine time-All Star and a nine-time Gold Glove winner who has always been a highly regarded clubhouse leader and could wind up in the Hall of Fame. The soon-to-be 39-year-old Molina also has a pair of World Series on his resume, further adding to his mystique in St. Louis.
Molina received interest from other clubs earlier this winter, but a return to the Cardinals has looked like an inevitability for weeks. A reunion between the two has seemingly become even more probable since the Cardinals kicked their offseason into high gear in late January. Dating back to then, they have re-signed right-hander Adam Wainwright, who’s close with Molina and also ranks as a franchise icon, and swung a massive deal with the Rockies for superb third baseman Nolan Arenado.
Molina, assuming he returns, will once again line up as the Cardinals’ No. 1 catcher in 2021. While Molina isn’t the star he was in earlier years, he did bat .262/.303/.359 (passable relative to his position) in 156 plate appearances last season and throw out an eye-popping 45 percent of would-be base thieves. It appears he’ll once again mentor younger Cards backstop Andrew Knizner during the upcoming campaign.
Molina’s exit from the open market will take away another option at catcher, which is arguably devoid of starting-caliber free agents there. MLBTR ranked Molina as the 32nd-best overall free agent at the start of the offseason and predicted he would re-sign with the Cards on a one-year, $10MM contract.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Who Will Be The Last Top-50 Free Agent To Sign?
After a slow start, the 2020-21 free agent market finally sprung to life over the last few weeks. The result is a lot of red ink (i.e. signing details) on MLBTR’s list of the offseason’s top 50 free agents, with only ten of the players that original list remaining without a contract for the 2021 season or beyond.
With less than two weeks to go before Spring Training camps are scheduled to open, the question has gone from “when will anyone sign?” to “who is left to be signed?” There are still plenty of prominent names remaining, including multiple former All-Stars, Gold Glovers, a Cy Young Award winner, and former World Series champions — including a very prominent member of the defending champion Dodgers.
Any of these players could sign at any time, of course, but it’s possible Yadier Molina could be back with the Cardinals very soon, given the reports of an agreement that could be made official now that the Caribbean Series is over. Justin Turner may also be down to a choice between four teams, and Jackie Bradley Jr. still has interest from a reported half-dozen teams.
With Trevor Bauer now a Dodger, interest seems to be picking up for starting pitchers like Jake Odorizzi, James Paxton, and Taijuan Walker. That could, in turn, spark some offers further down the ladder for veteran hurlers like Rick Porcello or Cole Hamels, as there hasn’t been much public buzz about either pitcher this winter.
On the bullpen front, Trevor Rosenthal has gotten interest from a few teams this winter, though several of his known suitors have since moved on to other late-game options. However, the “no such thing as too much pitching” mantra would certainly seem to apply to relievers as well heading into a 2021 season that may see several starters on innings limits as they rebuild arm strength. That would imply that the likes of Rosenthal and Mark Melancon could still be of interest to teams who already have a closer in place, in an effort to create a super-bullpen.
To add a couple more names to the mix, this poll also includes Brett Gardner and Brad Miller, who were honorable mentions on the original Top 50 list. They were bumped up to the 50-player slate for MLBTR’s free agent prediction contest after Marcus Stroman and Kevin Gausman made early exits from the market by accepting qualifying offers.
Of these twelve, who is your pick as the last free agent standing? (poll link for app users)
Who will be the last player to sign?
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Cole Hamels 24% (4,445)
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Rick Porcello 16% (2,997)
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Brad Miller 12% (2,280)
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Brett Gardner 10% (1,892)
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Jackie Bradley Jr. 10% (1,767)
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Mark Melancon 6% (1,147)
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Justin Turner 6% (1,073)
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James Paxton 4% (708)
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Taijuan Walker 3% (552)
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Jake Odorizzi 3% (536)
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Yadier Molina 3% (535)
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Trevor Rosenthal 3% (534)
Total votes: 18,466
Yadier Molina Expected To Re-Sign With Cardinals
Free-agent catcher Yadier Molina is expected to re-sign with the Cardinals at the conclusion of the Caribbean Series on Feb. 6, perhaps before then, Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch previously reported Molina was expected to stay with the club.
What was previously a silent offseason for the Cardinals has turned into an active one, as they re-signed right-hander Adam Wainwright on Friday and have been connected to Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado in trade rumors. Like Wainwright, Molina is one of the most accomplished players in Cardinals history.
Molina has spent his entire career with the St. Louis organization since it used a fourth-round pick on him in 2000, but there was some doubt about the nine-time All-Star’s future earlier this winter. The 38-year-old garnered interest from other teams (including the Yankees, Mets, Padres and Angels) and even mentioned retirement as a possibility. But it appears Molina will instead remain with the Cardinals for the 18th year in a row.
While Molina isn’t the high-end producer he was during his heyday, he remains a useful starting catcher even at this late stage of his career. His .262/.303/.359 line in 156 plate appearances last season was good for an 82 wRC+, which fell short of the league-average mark of 90 wRC+ but was still fairly respectable for the position. Behind the plate, Molina threw out a whopping 45 percent of would-be base thieves (the average mark was 24 percent) and, per Statcast, finished in the league’s 73rd percentile as a pitch framer. He’s also one of the most respected leaders in the game, making him all the more valuable to the Cardinals.
Assuming he does finalize a deal with St. Louis, Molina should comprise the team’s top two catchers alongside Andrew Knizner in 2021. The Cardinals had veteran Matt Wieters on their roster last season, and he collected 41 PA (Knizner had 17), but he’s now a free agent.
Latest On Cardinals’ Free Agents
At the outset of the offseason, it seemed plausible to imagine a world in which Adam Wainwright, Yadier Molina, and Kolten Wong would return to the team without ever really testing free agency. Instead, Wainwright and Molina eschewed quick reunion deals in favor of market exploration and the club declined its option over Wong.
As Spring Training closes in, the fates of all three players remain unknown. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch updates the market situation of these St. Louis stalwarts.
Wainwright is unsurprisingly drawing a good amount of interest, it seems. Goold says that the veteran righty is sitting on multiple offers, including one from the upstart Padres. Details remain unknown — including how the San Diego team would propose to fit him in a loaded rotation mix. Neither is it clear how strongly Wainwright is considering alternative destinations at this point.
The Cards are still pursuing both Wainwright and Molina, per Goold, having extended “updated offers” to each player. There’s no further word as to whether the longtime teammates are coordinating in a bid to land in the same place, as they’ve discussed previously.
It’s quite a different situation with respect to Wong, who enjoyed a quality run with the Cardinals but doesn’t have quite the organizational standing of the aforementioned legends. The second bagger has reportedly had contact with his former employer, but it’s far from clear that they’re headed for a reunion. Goold writes that the club has “not actively pursued” a new deal with Wong.
The Cards remain in a somewhat odd situation on the heels of a good-but-not-great season. The org hasn’t had a losing season since 2007, has quite a bit of talent on hand, and has a tantalizing opportunity to capitalize on an NL Central division that may be the game’s weakest. At the moment, though, the club is taking an outwardly passive approach to the offseason.
The above-linked article contains further exploration of the situations. It also features updates on the winter ball action of Molina and key righty Carlos Martinez.