Cardinal in, Cardinal out. On Friday, St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina was placed on the bereavement list, which put him out for at least the next three games. But seeing as those three games lead right into the All-Star break, Molina has elected to skip the game altogether, and skipper Tony La Russa has named outfielder Matt Holliday as Molina's replacement.
Holliday is having a typically fantastic season, hitting .318/.397/.526 on the year with 14 home runs. He's been unspeakably hot since the start of June, though, hitting .385/.457/.606.
While Holliday is certainly a worthy selection, there might be some quibbles with the strategy part of La Russa's pick. The loss of Molina leaves Buster Posey and Carlos Ruiz as the only two catchers on the NL roster, and it's been something of a boom year for catchers, as A.J. Ellis and Miguel Montero are both having fantastic seasons worthy of consideration.
But La Russa chose a player from the same team as the player who is giving up a spot. That makes sense from a fan perspective, even if you know that more than a few people are going to dwell on a) exactly which team that happens to be and b) the manager's relation to said team.
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