Jayson Stark examined the storylines in play if Yadier Molina is healed enough to start in Game 3.

But let’s take a look at the impact of A.J. Pierzynski potentially starting, on a couple of different statistical fronts.

As a fielder

There is a big difference between Molina and Pierzynski on the defensive side.

Cardinals Pitching this Season
With/Without Molina as Starting C

Pierzynski caught Lackey 20 times in the regular season in 2014. Lackey had a 4.24 ERA with Pierzynski behind the plate (and a 4.08 ERA in the regular season with Molina). He also allowed only five earned runs in 20 innings in three starts working with Tony Cruz.

Opponents stole 50 bases in 59 attempts against Pierzynski this season. That’s a huge difference from Molina, who held opponents to only 54 percent success on their steal attempts. That might tempt someone like Gregor Blanco or Hunter Pence into stealing. The Giants have attempted only two steals in their past 17 games against the St. Louis Cardinals (regular season and postseason combined), largely due to Molina’s presence.

Pierzynski blocked 91 percent of pitches in the dirt with a man on base in 2014. Molina is one of the premier defenders in that regard, with a block rate of nearly 95 percent.

Lackey threw only four wild pitches this season, but he does have a history of bouncing pitches, with as many as 18 wild pitches in a season.

Lackey had only four wild pitches last season with the Boston Red Sox, then threw three against the Cardinals in the World Series.

As a hitter

Pierzynski is 8-for-21 against Giants starter Tim Hudson, though the two haven’t faced off in the regular season or postseason since June 2010.

A.J. Pierzynski

#12 C
St. Louis Cardinals

2014 STATS

• GM102

• HR5

• RBI37

• R25

• OBP.288

• AVG.251

This is a hitter who hits the ball to the opposite field just enough so that he’s probably not shiftworthy. Pierzynski was 6-for-15 when hitting a ground ball or a short line drive against shifts this season. He’s hitting .195 on grounders and short liners against non-shifted defenses.

Pierzynski has shown a knack for rising to the occasion in postseason. He’s a .300 career hitter with five home runs in 30 postseason games.

Did you know?

On Oct. 12, 2005, Pierzynski was a big part of a controversial playoff game between the Chicago White Sox and Lackey’s Los Angeles Angels.

In Game 2 of the ALCS, the teams appeared headed to extra innings when Pierzynski struck out with two outs, nobody on and the score tied in the ninth inning.

But Pierzynski hustled to first after Angels catcher Josh Paul was ruled not to have caught strike three cleanly. Pinch-runner Pablo Ozuna would score on Joe Crede’s walk-off double to win the game and tie the series.

Two days later (nine years to the day of this year’s Game 3), Lackey gave up three first-inning runs to Pierzynski’s White Sox, who won the last three games of the series and swept the Houston Astros in the World Series.