ST. LOUIS – Ahead of Friday night’s game against the Cubs, the Cardinals announced they’ve placed catcher Yadier Molina on the 10-day injured list with a right thumb tendon strain from the game against the Phillies on May 29.
Rookie catcher Andrew Knizner had his contract purchased from the Memphis Redbirds (AAA) and was added to the Cardinals active roster.
Molina, 36, a nine-time National League All-Star and Rawlings Gold Glove winner, was batting .265 with 4 home runs and 33 RBI through 50 games this season and had started 49-of-53 games through May 28.
This will be the sixth time Molina has been placed on the injured list over his 16-year Major League career.
Knizner, 24, the Cardinals seventh round selection (226th overall) in the June 2016, First-Year Player Draft out of North Carolina State University, has been the starting catcher in Memphis, appearing in 37 games while batting .286 with 5 home runs, 17 RBI and eight doubles.
He has a career batting average of .307 over 279 minor league games with 30 HR and 155 RBI. The right-handed hitting backstop has hit safely in 72 percent of his career games not going more than two games without a hit during the 2019 season.
Defensively, Knizner has thrown out 17-of-32 attempted base stealers (53.1%) this season, with his 17 runners caught stealing leading all Pacific Coast League and Triple-A catchers while ranking T-9th among all minor league catchers.
A member of the 2018 Pacific Coast League Championship Redbirds squad, Knizner was named an All-Star in the Midwest League (2017) and prestigious Arizona Fall League (2017). He was selected to the 2018 All-Star Futures Game for the USA Team in Washington D.C., last July.
Knizner will wear uniform No. 7.
The Cardinals open up their series against the Cubs at 7:15 p.m. at Busch Stadium.
