We have talked about this at length -- who are the Cardinals without Yadier Molina? Can they win? Where will they miss him the most?
Molina missed 40 games from July 10-Aug. 28 with a thumb injury. In that span the Cardinals went 21-19 with a team ERA of 4.50. Opposing base runners were successful in 25 of 29 stolen base attempts with Molina watching from the bench. We know how different the Cardinals are without Yadier Molina in the lineup.
What caught my eye specifically though was the 10th inning of Game 3 of the NLCS. If you weren't watching the game on FOX Sports 1, I'm sure you caught our wrap-up on the postgame show. Worst case, I'm betting you at least saw the highlights and breakdowns on FOX Sports Live that night. Regardless you know what happened but just in case, here's a quick review.
With the scored tied 4-4 in the bottom of the 10th, lefty Randy Choate entered for St. Louis. Choate walked Brandon Crawford, allowed a single to Juan Perez and then threw away a sac bunt attempt by Gregor Blanco to give the Giants the win and the 2-1 lead in this best-of-seven series.
But I want to go back to the Crawford walk. On a 3-2 count Choate threw a fastball away to Crawford, as you can see here (No. 8), thanks to Brooks Baseball.
The most common ball called a strike by umpires is a pitch away from a left-handed pitcher to a left-handed hitter. Why? I'm not exactly sure, but this is the most common mistake among MLB umpires and I never complained about it as a left-hander.
Filling in for Molina was A.J. Pierzynski, who botched the 3-2 pitch from Choate. He was unable to catch it cleanly and the ball fell in front of him, ball four.
The pitch was a ball, I'm not disputing that, but check out this pitch from John Lackey (No. 1) called a strike by home plate umpire in the sixth inning versus Brandon Belt.
Pierzynski caught that pitch cleanly and Davis gave him the call. Umpires will call some balls strikes, it happens, but one requirement is that the catcher has to catch the ball cleanly and make it look good to the umpire. Molina is one of the best at this.
Had Molina been able to get that call for Choate we may be looking at an entirely different 10th inning for the Cardinals. We know that leadoff walks in an inning score 80 percent of the time, or so I was told my entire career. Choate did make that error that cost the Cardinals the game and there was nothing Molina could have done to stop that. I can't help but wonder about the difference a healthy Yadier Molina might have made in that inning, and the game, for St. Louis.
