Nelson Molina faces surgery in the off-season

CEDAR RAPIDS - Nelson Molina faces surgery in the off-season. Oops, no pun intended there.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels infielder was the victim of an unfortunate bad bounce a couple of weeks ago. He dove for a ball at shortstop, it deflected off his glove and up into his face.

He suffered a broken nose that he'll get taken care of once his team's season is complete. It's tough to play with sometimes, but it's not going to keep him out of the lineup.

'Sometimes it's tough, I'm not going to lie to you,” said Molina, whose team was plastered by Burlington, 9-0, Sunday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Stadium. 'Sometimes I get out of breath. But I want to be in the field. I want to play.”

Nothing is going to stop the 21-year-old from Puerto Rico from having a breakout year end prematurely. Even in a disastrous game for his team, he found a way to do positive things again.

A 1-for-2 performance (with a walk and hit by pitch thrown in) lifted his season batting average to .315.

To understand just how huge that number is, take a look at how small the numbers were that he posted in his three previous seasons in the Minnesota Twins farm system.

He came into 2016 a career .191 hitter in 118 games, with only six extra-base hits.

'When I was in Puerto Rico, my trainer, my buddies, they've been teaching me a lot about how experienced they are, how to learn from every at-bat,” said Molina, an 11th-round draft pick in 2013. 'That means a lot to me. I've been able to recognize myself this year. I've been able to fix myself when I do something wrong. I think that's the main key.”

Don't discount the importance of being able to play on an everyday basis. Molina came to the Kernels in late April from extended spring training, and Sunday was his 81st game with the team.

A natural shortstop, he has done a very good job as C.R.'s most-days third baseman.

'The opportunity has been really good for me,” he said. 'You can keep your bat going. But also the training in the off-season was really important for me. Like I've said before, I've just matured a lot as a baseball player.”

Enough for Kernels Manager Jake Mauer to say he can see Molina playing for 'many years.” A guy who couldn't hit .200 is threatening to hit .300 this season, and that's pretty good.

'That would mean a lot,” Molina said. 'That's been my goal since my first game here this year. When I got to spring training this year, I knew that I had to put up numbers. I have to earn my spot, put my name on the board. I know this is the year.”

This was not the day for the Kernels (68-56, 32-24 second half), who failed to complete a three-game sweep of the team closest to it in the hunt for a playoff spot. Burlington (61-65, 29-27) broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning when right fielder Jaylin Davis whiffed catching a routine fly ball with two outs and the bases loaded, allowing three runs to score against tough-luck losing pitcher Sam Gibbons (6-5).

Cedar Rapids was limited to five hits against a pair of Bees pitchers, failing to mount any offense. The Kernels are three games up on Burlington and four ahead of Wisconsin for one of two available second-half playoff spots in the Midwest League's Western Division.

Quad Cities comes to town for a four-game series that begins tonight. There are 14 regular-season games remaining.

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com