St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina could soon make his long-awaited return to action.

Molina was slotted in to bat third as a designated hitter for the Memphis Redbirds in their Triple-A matchup against the Norfolk Tides on Thursday. MLB.com’s John Denton noted that Molina could earn a start as a catcher in the Redbirds' game on Friday, and he may then receive the green light to feature for the Cardinals in their three-game home series against the Chicago Cubs beginning on Tuesday.

Molina has been out of action since mid-June due to right knee inflammation. As a result, the Cardinals then called up rookie catcher Ivan Herrera from Triple-A Memphis. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol has since provided the likes of Austin Romine and Andrew Knizner with starts out at the catcher position.

Molina was reportedly expected to miss “at least a few weeks,” but he has since remained unavailable to feature for the Cardinals due to his injury. The veteran catcher elected to take some time to rehab the ailment back in Puerto Rico, but he recently returned to take part in rehab assignments.

Molina is currently in what he has called his final season in the majors. The 10-time All-Star has played in 38 total regular season games so far in the campaign, where he has posted career lows in both batting average (.213) and OBP (.225).

The Cardinals trail the first-place Milwaukee Brewers by 3.0 games in the National League Central standings. They do currently hold the third wild-card spot in the NL thanks to their 52-47 record.