It was announced Friday that St. Louis Cardinals’ catcher Yadier Molina has been activated by the team and will start against the Chicago Cubs according to several reports on Twitter. Molina has been on the disabled list since suffering a thumb injury Jul. 9 that made him undergo surgery to repair torn ligaments.
Cardinals activate C Yadier Molina off 15-day disabled list. Option C Tony Cruz to Springfield (AA).
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) August 29, 2014
HE'S BAACCK!
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) August 29, 2014
The #STLCards activate C Yadier Molina from the 15-day DL & option Tony Cruz
Molina is batting 6th & behind the plate tonight
Yadier Molina to start tonight; Marco Gonzales to start doubleheader game for #stlcards tomorrow.
— Jenifer Langosch (@LangoschMLB) August 29, 2014
Molina was sent to the St. Louis’ Double-A affiliate, the Springfield Cardinals and performed well in starts on Wednesday and Thursday. He went 2-for-3 on Wednesday with a double and 3-for-3 on Thursday with two doubles and an RBI in the first five innings. Catcher Tony Cruz was optioned to Double-A Springfield to make room for Molina according to CBS Sports.
The six-time All Star hasn’t played since Jul. 9 but was batting .287 with 16 doubles, seven homers and 30 RBI in 335 plate appearances this season. The Cardinals are 44-38 when he starts and 27-23 when he doesn’t this season. While the Cardinals hold the top Wild Card spot in the national league, they trail the Milwaukee Brewers by 1.5 games in the NL Central.