PostCards: Yadier Molina’s game-management a factor in NLCS wins

St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina is playing a huge role for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Oct 12, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Trevor Rosenthal (26) celebrates with catcher Yadier Molina (4) after game two of the National League Championship Series baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Busch Stadium. Image Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports
“Having Molina in the field is like having another manager, another pitching coach, a great teammate and a veteran that took over the game,” said TBS baseball studio analyst Pedro Martinez during Saturday’s edition of The Postseason Show on TBS. “It’s not just bringing offense to the game, it’s guiding those [younger players] to what they should be doing. No doubt, Michael Wacha has the stuff, but what Molina does is incredible. During the tough situation with [Yasiel] Puig, he makes sure he comes over and takes it upon himself to guide Wacha over what he has to do. Now Michael Wacha, full of confidence, goes out there and blows a fastball by Puig and gets out of the inning.”

This is one of the reasons why some feel that Molina will get more National League MVP votes than teammate Matt Carpenter, who led the NL in multiple offensive categories. It’s been posted in these pages here before but retired manager Tony La Russa has sung Molina’s praises, too, when I interviewed him last November following the postseason.

When all is said and done, Molina will go down as one of the best catchers of all time even if he was slow to start producing offensively.