The St. Louis Cardinals placed star catcher Yadier Molina on the 10-day injured list on Tuesday due to a strained tendon in his right foot.
The nine-time All-Star injured the foot during Friday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds. He returned to play Monday against the Philadelphia Phillies and was hitless in three at-bats and apparently aggravated the injury.
Molina, 38, was off to strong start by batting .323 with five homers, five doubles and 14 RBIs in 19 games.
St. Louis recalled catcher Ali Sanchez from the alternate training site to fill the roster opening.
The 24-year-old Sanchez was acquired from the New York Mets in the offseason for cash considerations. He appeared in five games for the Mets last season and went 1-for-9 (.111).
Andrew Knizner started in place of Molina on Saturday and Sunday and figures to receive most of the action behind the plate. The 26-year-old is batting .263 (5-for-19) with one RBI in nine games this season.
Earlier this month, Molina became the first player in baseball history to catch 2,000 games with a single team. The only players who have caught more games than Molina (2,007) in baseball history are Ivan Rodriguez (2,427), Carlton Fisk (2,226), Bob Boone (2,225), Gary Carter (2,056) and Jason Kendall (2,025).