St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina has his hand looked at by assistant trainer Chris Conroy after a hard slide into third base during a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Busch Stadium on July 9, 2014. The Cardinals have announced that Molina will have surgery on 7/11/2014 to repair a torn ligament in his thumb injured on the play.  Molina, scheduled to be the starting catcher in the 2014 All-Star game, will now be out of action for 10-12 weeks. UPI/Bill Greenblatt

St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina has his hand looked at by assistant trainer Chris Conroy after a hard slide into third base during a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Busch Stadium on July 9, 2014. The Cardinals have announced that Molina will have surgery on 7/11/2014 to repair a torn ligament in his thumb injured on the play. Molina, scheduled to be the starting catcher in the 2014 All-Star game, will now be out of action for 10-12 weeks. UPI/Bill Greenblatt

The St. Louis Cardinals have placed All-Star catcher Yadier Molina on the 15-day disabled list with a torn ligament in his right thumb and catcher Audry (OW-dree) Perez has been recalled from Memphis (AAA) to take his spot on the Major League roster.

Molina, who will turn 32 in three days, injured the thumb on his right throwing hand after advancing to third base in the second inning of Wednesday night’s game against Pittsburgh. He is scheduled to undergo surgery tomorrow.

Listen to Yadier Molina’s comments

The Cardinals catcher was voted by the fans to start for the National League in the All-Star Game on Tuesday and will not be active to play. Molina was batting .287 with 7 home runs and 30 runs batted in while leading the Major Leagues by throwing out 47 percent of attempted base stealers this season and ranking tied for second with three pick-offs.

The estimated time for recovery is 10-12 weeks.  That essentially puts him back for a return date of late September, early October…basically the rest of the regular season.  His absence will effect the team’s offense and obviously pitching and defense.  Can the Cardinals survive?  Share your thoughts below.

Listen to Mike Matheny’s comments

 

Perez, 25, played in 44 games at Triple-A Memphis this season batting .288 with 2 HR and 21 RBI. He posted a .993 fielding percentage while throwing out 29 percent (10 caught stealing/35 attempts) of attempted base stealers this season. The catcher from Sabana Grande de Palenque, Dominican Republic, played in two Major League games during the 2013 season and had one at-bat.

Listen to John Mozeliak’s comments