Oct 12, 2014; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina (4) is helped off the field by manager Mike Matheny (right) and a team trainer after suffering an apparent injury against the San Francisco Giants during the sixth inning in game
Oct 12, 2014; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina (4) is helped off the field by manager Mike Matheny (right) and a team trainer after suffering an apparent injury against the San Francisco Giants during the sixth inning in game two of the 2014 NLCS playoff baseball game at Busch Stadium. REUTERS

The playoffs is not over for St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina as he looks forward to combat an oblique left muscle strain that is keeping him in limited movements. The de facto Cardinals captain was staying positive after going down with an injury that will possibly sideline him for the rest of the playoffs.

During the night he suffered the injury, Molina underwent physical treatment including a massage and ice packs on his sides and the morning after provided positive results as the sharp pain on his side was gone and he was able to play some warm-up catches with his teammates. As reported by USA Today Sports, the development prompted the team not to put him on the injured list, holding out hope he can still contribute while Molina said that his season is "not yet over" as tweeted by some of his followers in social media.

Molina: Season is "not over." Comments from #Cardinals catcher as he takes the field after injury. #stlcards #NLCS http://t.co/KAMClbpowl

— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) October 13, 2014

Molina was out with a similar injury in 2011 but that was during the regular season when the Cardinals were able to salvage some 20 plus wins from the 40 games the catcher missed. This time around, the team is hoping that their star catcher can still be instrumental In the hotly contested series against the San Francisco Giants despite the ailment. Molina is on the same line of thinking.

"Definitely, you feel something,'' Molina said per USA Today, "but I feel good enough to catch. Right now, you've got to go and give it everything you can. You got to do it for your team and yourself. You can't think about anything else."

The veteran catcher also expounded that he will not be thinking about his side if ever his number is called. While he may not be able to bat, his participation in the practice session proved he can still do a limited number of catches. Despite this, expect him not to be included in the starting line-up for Game 3 of their National League Championship series Tuesday at the AT&T Park. Even with tempered expectations of the public, the Cardinals are still projecting themselves to contest for the World Series which will commence next week.

Substituting for Molina's place is Tony Cruz, a backup catcher for most of his career and has never even eclipsed more than 51 games in any season of his young MLB life. With Molina out, Cruz will be relied heavier to stop a Giants offence though the same is not predicated on stealing bases. Nevertheless, with the multitude of possibilities during the course of a playoff series that can go the whole seven games, the Cardinals are keeping Molina at arm's length ready for disposal.