How worried should we be about Yadier Molina's thumb?

Last night’s St. Louis Cardinals victory was marred by Yadier Molina injuring his hand while sliding. The All-Star backstop tried to stay in the game after the injury but manager Mike Matheny ultimately lifted Molina for back-up catcher Tony Cruz. When the move was announced, my heart skipped a beat. Injuries always worry me, and players seemingly hurt after a slide are one of the most concern-inducing for me.

The in-game announcement was that Molina suffered a sprained right thumb on the slide. This did nothing to assuage my worries.

A snippet from the gamer by Rick Hummel at stltoday.com:

[...] Molina’s chances of playing tonight in the series finale with the Pirates would seem slim and he could miss the weekend series in Milwaukee and possibly even the All-Star Game next Tuesday also.

"Too early to tell," said manager Mike Matheny, who didn’t sound overly optimistic earlier about a positive resolution. "He’s the toughest guy I know."

Former catcher Matheny said he had never had an equivalent injury to his right thumb although he said Molina’s left thumb "is in bad shape. It’s been that way for a long time, as most catchers’ thumbs are."

This comes with a huge "for what it’s worth" qualifier, but Audry Perez, the catcher in Triple-A who seems best positioned to receive a promotion to St. Louis because he is on the 40-man roster, did not start today for the Redbirds. Yes, it was a day game following a night game, but Ed Easley got the start last night. It seems today would’ve been Perez’s day. (No word on whether Perez was spotting giving Memphis teammates hugs.)

I’m rather concerned about Yadi’s health. Am I overreacting?

Update:

GM John Mozeliak to meet media at 2:45, certain to be update on Molina's status. #STLCards

— Rob Rains (@RobRains) July 10, 2014

Gulp.