Yadier Molina's recent power surge is a welcome development

St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina tore ligaments in his right thumb last year. He lost 50 games to the disabled list for surgery and rehab. When Molina returned to game action, his power didn't come with him.

The Cardinals activated Molina from the DL on August 29. In the 27 regular-season games Yadi played after that, he notched five extra-base hits—all doubles. His Isolated Power (ISO) was .050. In the postseason, Molina's did slug much more. He had one extra-base hit (a double) in 22 PAs.

Molina picked up where he left off with a punchless start to the 2015 campaign. He tallied 223 PAs in the first 57 games in which he played, totaling just ten extra-base hits (all doubles). His ISO was a paltry .049 during that time. However, in the last week Molina has played in six games, taken 24 PAs, and rapped out four extra-base hits. Two were doubles, and two were homers.

On June 15, Molina swatter his first dinger since June 27, 2014, before he injured his thumb.

Carlos Martinez had an appropriate response to Molina's home run.

Back-to-back home runs?! Don't mind if we do.

A photo posted by St. Louis Cardinals (@cardinals) on Jun 15, 2015 at 6:46pm PDT

On June 20, Molina slugged his second round-tripper.

Might Yadi be experiencing a bit of a power resurgence? Hopefully. As we discussed last week, his early-season output at the bat was solid in terms of average and on-base percentage. However, his nonexistent power made him a below-average hitter. If Molina can rediscover some of the power that has abandoned him post-injury, it would be a boon to this offense.

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