Yadier Molina amongst St. Louis Cardinals to test positive for COVID-19

Longtime St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina was amongst six players to test positive for COVID-19 that were identified by the team.

On Friday, the St. Louis Cardinals became the latest team to have a COVID-19 outbreak. Their series against the Brewers for that weekend was canceled, as were their games against the Tigers. As more positive tests were announced over the course of the weekend, speculation began as to which players were affected.

On Tuesday, the Cardinals, with permission, named six of the players to test positive. Included on that list are Yadier Molina and starting shortstop Paul DeJong.

This is a tremendous loss for the Cardinals on the field. Molina has been a mainstay behind the plate, seemingly in the lineup every day despite the wear and tear of the position. DeJong has staked a claim as one of the best young shortstops in the game, a key piece in the St. Louis lineup.

The loss of Molina is perhaps the most interesting for the Cardinals. He has not played in fewer than 110 games at any point since taking over as their primary backstop in 2005, and has generally made the backup catcher position relatively meaningless.

But that is no longer the case. Molina is 37 years old, and despite his stated desire to play beyond this season, the end is approaching. It is something that the Cardinals had been preparing for, even this season, by bringing back Matt Wieters and with prospect Andrew Knizner. Neither player has seen much action, with two games and one plate appearance between them, but that is set to change.

For the Cardinals, this is a potential chance to see what they have in Knizner. He showed promise in his limited time in the majors last season, producing a .226/.292/.377 batting line, with two homers and two doubles, over 58 plate appearances. Defensively, he threw out three of four would-be base stealers and saved a run over 16 games.

Even with the positive test results, there is no guarantee that either catcher will see an uptick in playing time. The Cardinals are off until Friday due to these positive tests, and Molina could be back by that point. All he needs are two negative tests on consecutive games to be allowed to resume baseball activities.

Yadier Molina is amongst the six players on the St. Louis Cardinals to have been listed as testing positive for COVID-19. Hopefully, they will all recover soon.