CODNP Day 7: The Break and Yadier Molina

One week down.  I can’t imagine it’s going to get any easier.

Especially not until we get a date for a return.  That’s what makes the offseason bearable, the fact that you know every day you are getting closer to baseball returning and you can measure it on your calendar.  (Plus there’s the whole free agents/trade rumors thing that we don’t really have now.)  If we knew we had 90 days until baseball returned, we’d complain, but we could also start marking the time.

Anyway, I got to wondering what this break would do for Yadier Molina.  On the face of it, it would seem to do nothing but help him.  He’s going to play just half a season (thereabouts), which at his age and the wear on his legs can only be a plus.  Heck, we’ve been wanting to see Yadi start playing in more like 80-90 games, so here you go!

Of course, that reasoning was so we could see players like Andrew Knizner get a shot and start to develop at the big league level.  This long delay is a death knell to Knizner’s hopes of doing more than getting a cup of coffee in the bigs this year.  I mean, it probably wasn’t very big anyway and depended on an injury to Molina (which could happen in a shortened season as well, I guess) but Yadi might actually play every game this year.  Even if they do schedule double-headers!  Give that man basically seven months off and imagine what he could do.

The legs should be fresher.  The arm should be rested.  Fatigue shouldn’t be an issue.  So what’s the downside?

You know how when you are doing something, it’s when you stop when you really notice the problems?  Like you are feeling good, then you take a breather and all of the sudden everything stiffens up and you don’t want to move.  What if disrupting Molina’s routine is what makes him realize that he’s actually mortal?  What if he needs that regular play and to sit at home and train by himself makes it harder for him to actually get going this season?

Usually when we see a gap in an older player’s playing time, it’s an injury situation, but so often they don’t really make it back the same way they were.  Molina is a unique individual, but age is coming for him sooner rather than later.  Perhaps when he’s standing still is when time finally catches up.

Nah, he’s going to hit .300 with 15 homers.  It’s Yadi.

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Last updated: 10/06/2022

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