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St. Louis Cardinals’ Yadier Molina undergoes surgery on thumb

By Tim Haberin

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St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina tried to tough out the torn ligament in his left thumb during his team’s NLDS clash with the Chicago Cubs. But with the Redbirds now eliminated, the veteran backstop has elected to undergo surgery on the afflicted finger. He is expected to be out of commission for 8-12 weeks, according to Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com:

Molina was diagnosed with the ligament tear last month, and it kept him out of action from September 20 through the end of the regular season. He returned for the start of the Cards’ playoff series but was forced to leave in the sixth inning of Game 3 after re-aggravating the injury. He did not appear in Game 4, which saw the end of St. Louis’ brief postseason run.

This isn’t the first time Molina has needed to go under the knife for a thumb injury either. He was sidelined last season for a tear in the opposite thumb.

The 33-year-old will hope that healing up over the winter helps him get back on track after a relatively disappointing 2015 campaign. Though Molina was named to his seventh consecutive All-Star squad, he finished the year with a .270/.310/.350 slash line, four home runs and 61 RBI. His 80 OPS+ was his lowest since 2006, his third season in the big leagues, when he posted a mark of 50.

Fortunately for Molina and the Cardinals, his struggles at the plate did not follow him behind it. He gunned down 41% of attempted base stealers this season, trailing only the Nationals’ Wilson Ramos and the Blue Jays’ Russell Martin (both with 44% success rates) among all MLB catchers.

Next: Cubs' Addison Russell out for NLCS

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