Cardinals' Yadier Molina Placed on IL After Thumb Injury Diagnosed as Strain

St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina's ailing thumb has landed him on the injured list.

The team announced Friday that Molina was placed on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to May 29) with a strained tendon in his right thumb. 

Taking Molina's spot on the 25-man roster will be Andrew Knizner. The 24-year-old is hitting .286/.355/.450 in 37 games at Triple-A Memphis. 

Molina originally injured his thumb on May 25 against the Atlanta Braves. He played the Cardinals' next two games but has been on the bench since Wednesday. 

Despite playing the most physically demanding position on the diamond for 16 seasons, Molina has largely been able to stay healthy throughout his career. He did miss one month in 2018 after having emergency surgery due to a traumatic hematoma after taking a foul ball to his groin. 

Molina's 20 homers in 2018 were the second-highest single-season total of his career. He also finished sixth among all catchers with 2.2 FanGraphs wins above replacement (min. 300 at-bats). 

This season hasn't been a full return to form on offense for Molina, who was hitting .265/.294/.397 slash line. He's also throwing out just 27 percent of base stealers, the second-lowest mark of his career. 

Since Molina figures to be sidelined for the foreseeable future, the Cardinals will turn to Matt Wieters as their primary catcher.