In the world of sports, having a short attention span comes with the territory.
A player gets hurt, another jumps in, and the results of the replacement can blind the vision of the past.
Case In Point: Yadier Molina proved to be a force to reckon with last season at age 36. He won his ninth Gold Glove, slugged 20 home runs, and put up a fWAR of 2.3. In a nutshell, he still had the goods to be a starter at this level.
This season, he got off to a slow start and then suffered what seems like his 25th injury to one of his thumbs. A swing went awry, and for some reason that can't be explained without toughness and tenure, he stayed in the lineup for a decent stretch. When he finally hit the Injured List, Matt Wieters stepped in.
At the time, due to the insistence on keeping Molina in the lineup and Wieters hitting a key home run in San Diego, the move was celebrated. In the four weeks since Molina officially hit the IL, Wieters has shown he still has some bite left in his game. He's hit as well as most catchers in the National League, slugging .534 with five home runs in July.
The resurgence for Wieters has caused some to hope for Molina to settle into a backup role, or at the very least, an even timeshare. Once again, the short attention span mindset can strike us all, including yours truly.
I have written here and posted on Twitter that Wieters should play more than Molina's previous backups, who were either Halloween costume enthusiasts or cardboard cutouts for the past 14 years. Wieters deserved more time, as did Andrew Knizner.
But now that Molina is 100% and the thumb is no longer a problem, he needs to be the starter again. Wieters should still get three starts a week, or possibly four if Molina needs an extra day. If Molina is all good, which will be a question until he takes a few Major League at-bats with that thumb, then the job is his.
It isn't like he's been declining for years or something. Look at his 2017 and 2018 bodies of work. His 2.9 and 2.3 fWAR may even be weighted in the wrong way since sabermetric experts are only beginning to place a quantifiable value on catchers. He's slugged 18 and 20 home runs in those seasons. The slugging percentage held steady at .436. He's throwing out runners and holding the fort down in every area that he has on the field with young pitchers for over a decade.
If Molina comes back and shows serious rust and wear, then you reevaluate. That's what good managers and teams do. Common sense will tell you that a healthy Molina can be exactly what a team in a dogfight for the division needs. Don't place the last few years of infamy on Molina's shoulders. He hasn't declined with some of the other members of the team, or the softness of a front office who treats the end of July like a pool party instead of high stakes moneyball.
I know what you're thinking right now. The Cardinals did take over first place in Molina's absence, but now they find themselves back out of it. Wieters' power won't carry this team to a division title. Molina's experience, revered knowledge and healthier bat could play a big role, with Wieters backing him up. That was the story all along. Wieters is a great backup, but not someone who should be starting over a healthy Molina.
Outside of the power, Wieters' 99 wRC+, .238 batting average and .288 on-base percentage aren't lighting up many flares across the league. He's shown some pop, and that's a great thing to have. But one can't look at those numbers and see a legit starting catcher.
Molina can give you that pop and home-plate defense in the same manner. While a new face can be refreshing, let's not forget about history, especially the recent kind. There should be a line drawn, one visible enough for Mike Shildt to notice. Since he is the biggest fan of Molina on this green earth, he needs to know when to mix it up. Hopefully, he's gotten that down strong in the catcher's absence.
With a division title hanging in the distance-one that could mean more to the Cardinals than any other contending team in this division-you need the best possible guy at every position. For me, Molina is still that guy behind home plate. While the young guns whom the front office deemed untouchable this past week, players like Tyler O'Neill when healthy, should get in, there's still a place for the old guard to push this team ahead.
Need another reason to start Molina? August is his best month, career-wise, for batting average at .306.
August and September should be a fitting test for many people. Can Shildt properly manage the Cardinals through a true division battle, making the necessary tough calls? Can the pitching staff hold up? Will the bats, especially Matt Carpenter and Marcell Ozuna, find the sweet spot in time? One of the biggest ones sits with No. 4. How much does Molina have left in the tank? Does the menace to opposing base-running society have one last ride left in him? Two more rides?
Sports fans can't resist the small sample size and short attention span theater. It's impossible because of the rush that a new face can bring. Sometimes, the old reliable can't be forgotten.
Yadier Molina should have the right to find out.
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