Adam Wainwright made only four starts and the St. Louis Cardinals still won 100 games – and baseball’s toughest division – with their organizational pitching depth and next-man-up attitude.
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To protect his thumb, Molina will wear a customized splint to catch but will swap that out for another protective brace when he bats. Tony LaRussa recognized this in 2011, when he went to his bullpen early and often, so much so that his relievers pitched slightly more innings than his starters that postseason (if I recall correctly).
The catcher is on the roster, and will play in game one.
“I think he feels pain”, Matheny said after Thursday’s workout. “He just doesn’t recognize it or knows how to define it. That’s part of the (catcher) position”. He doesn’t want to go out there if he’s not able to contribute. And Yadi always has his eye on the field … he is so valuable to our club in so many ways, ways that you can’t put numbers on. And right now, that’s not the situation that we’re in.
Cards manager Mike Matheny says it’s a special time.
Rizzo unintentionally put his spikes into Molina’s glove which resulted in a ligament tear in his left thumb, causing him to miss the remainder of the 2015 regular season.
Molina is the only remaining player from the Cardinals 2004 World Series Champion team.
Following John Lackey in Game 1 on Friday, Jaime Garcia will pitch Game 2 on Saturday, followed by Michael Wacha in Game 3 on Monday and Lance Lynn in Game 4 on Tuesday, if necessary.
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“Obviously, it was a serious injury”, Molina said. In college football, he is a SIZZLING 27-22 +$3,470 YTD after THREE of FIVE Winning Weeks and going back he is a MASSIVE +$16,021 in CFB since 2013! Statistically, hitters do better against a starting pitcher the second time through the order than the first time through the order, and they do even better when they are facing a pitcher for the third time. Lackey would then presumably start Game 5 if needed.
