Yadier Molina Gets Blasted And Other MLBullets

Did you see that Pablo Sandoval/Brandon Crawford catch last night? Humorous and awesome all at once.

• Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina absorbed a healthy collision at the plate last night courtesy of the Pirates' Josh Harrison, and held onto the ball despite the blast. The video is here. It's hard to believe after seeing the video, but Molina reportedly did not suffer a concussion ... just injuries to his shoulder, neck, and back. He's being described as day-to-day. Cardinals players, while noting that it wasn't necessarily a dirty play, are all saying the same thing: Harrison had the option to slide, and chose to barrel into Molina. You can watch the video and judge for yourself. To my eye, it's a close call - the throw brought Molina up the line a bit, where he camped out in the baseline. Harrison could have veered slightly to his right, but it would have made for a tough slide. And, just as Molina had little time to brace himself for the collision, Harrison had little time to decide what to do, because of the angle of the throw. It looks to me like it was just one of those things that happens.

• Matt Kemp also was injured last night in a collision, his with an outfield wall. He was down for a while, and stayed in the game for two more batters before having to leave. He hurt his jaw and his knee, and is having more tests done to determine the extent of the damage.
• A report from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune says MLB will announce the host for the 2014 All-Star Game today, and, as you probably noticed the name of that paper, yes, it's the Minnesota Twins. Given the new ballpark, the fact that 2014 was expected to be an AL year (2013 is at Citi Field in New York), and the fact that it's been 27 years since the last All-Star Game in Minnesota, many thought this was coming.
• Jose Bautista will have season-ending wrist surgery after being unable to comeback from a mid-season wrist injury. The recovery time is expected to be three to four months, but, as we've seen so many times before with sluggers, a wrist injury can be a serious long-term problem.
• The Pirates up and released Erik Bedard, who'd been having a decent season until a recent month-long stretch of awfulness. The 33-year-old lefty might catch on with some team for the home stretch.
• FanGraphs looks at why, despite his Tommy John surgery last year, and his back strain mid-season this year, Daisuke Matsuzaka would be worth a contender taking a chance on if they can snag him off waivers (the Red Sox put him on waivers yesterday). His K/BB rate is decent, as is his FIP. With $2 million owed to him the rest of the way, a team could likely have him for nothing.
• Roy Oswalt has cleared waivers, and would prefer to be traded somewhere that he can start. Whether a team will have interest, however, remains to be seen.

Brett Taylor is the Lead Writer at Bleacher Nation, and a Contributor here at Bleed Cubbie Blue.