ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Cardinals placed Yadier Molina on the injured list Friday due to right knee inflammation, a tough blow for the backstop in his final season with the Cardinals.
Molina lands on the injured list for the first time this season. The Cardinals have recalled catcher Iván Herrera from Triple-A Memphis to fill the gap.
The Cardinals have yet to announce a timetable for Molina’s return. Katie Woo with The Athletic reports that the 19-year veteran has been dealing with persistent knee soreness throughout the 2022 season.
Molina and Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright are nine starts away from making history as the MLB battery with the most starts. The duo has made 316 career starts together. Wainwright is set to pitch Friday in the Cardinals’ interleague series opener against the Boston Red Sox.
Prior to the injury, Molina was hitting .213 with two home runs and 10 RBI over 38 games this season. He was also throwing out runners at a 38% clip. On Tuesday, Molina passed Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez for most putouts by a catcher in MLB history.