Cardinals: Is it time for Yadier Molina to pass the torch?

Yadier Molina’s final season in a St. Louis Cardinals uniform has not gone the way he’d hoped.

The band’s back together, but so far, they seem to be playing out of tune. The St. Louis Cardinals reunited with Albert Pujols over the offseason, and now the former MVP is back in the Gateway City with Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright.

All three are expected to call it quits after this season, but from the look of things, Molina might have been better served to hang up his spikes after the 2021 campaign.

The longtime Cardinals backstop is off to a rough start this season, and his eventual successor is having a terrific start to his 2022 campaign. Is it time for Molina to pass the torch?

St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina is off to a rough start in 2022.

The St. Louis Cardinals may be occupying first-place in the National League Central, but little of that can be attributed to Yadier Molina’s performance on the field.

Molina has appeared in nine games with eight starts behind the dish. The 39-year-old is hitting just .128 with a paltry .276 OPS. Molina has just four hits on the young season, none of which have gone for extra bases.

On the flip side, Andrew Knizner is off to a red-hot start for the Redbirds. The heir apparent to Molina is slashing a cool .318/.375/.545 with a home runs and six RBIs. Knizner has drawn six starts for the St. Louis Cardinals this season.

While batting average, runs batted in, and OPS can sometimes be overlooked so long as the team itself has success, those wanting to see Yadier Molina in the starting lineup cannot even point to that at this point.

When the veteran sets up behind home plate, the Cardinals are 4-4 this season. When Knizner is hanging the signs, St. Louis is 5-1.

This will be an incredibly interesting story to follow as the 2022 season progresses. While it may not be the swan song St. Louis fans were hoping for, the reality is that Yadier Molina may have to pass the torch to Andrew Knizner sooner than expected.