St. Louis Cardinals Player Projections: Yadier Molina

Yadier Molina stepped up at the plate last year for the St. Louis Cardinals and continued to build his Hall of Fame resume. What will he be able to do in 2019?

It is sad to imagine a St. Louis Cardinals team that does not feature Yadier Molina behind the plate. I have no memory of a team that did not have the future Hall of Famer throwing out runners and flashing his big smile behind the plate. While that is a scary reality that could happen as soon as two years from now, so let’s first pause and be mindful to enjoy the time we do have left with Yadi behind the plate.

All nostalgia aside, Yadi is coming off a year in 2018 where he continued to decline slightly as he led the league in catching innings ~yet again~ as a 35-year-old. Yadi looked a lot more like an older version of himself during the first half of 2018 as he finished with a .274 batting average and 13 homers. This was even with losing a month’s worth of time because of an unfortunate foul tip injury.

He was slugging like he was during his 2011-2013 seasons where he finished top 5 in MVP voting twice. Then, for whatever reason, he took a step back in the second half. His average dropped to .249 and he only hit 7 homers after the All-Star break. Now I say ‘for whatever reason’ with a little bit of sarcasm as a slide in the second half definitely makes sense. No catcher who catches as many games as Yadi does at his age doesn’t whither a bit at the end of the season.

As we move towards 2019 though, Yadi no longer has to potentially share time with Carson Kelly and so once again, the catching position rests solely on his shoulders.

ZiPS is surprisingly bullish on Molina in 2019. I am not exactly sure why, but ZiPS doesn’t see Molina taking too much of a decline, which I agree with. The flashback 20 homer performance will be really hard to replicate for a 36-year-old Molina but it is interesting to me that they project an increase in WAR from 1.8 in 2018 to 2.3 in 2019.

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This may be the first projection that I take the under on. It breaks my heart to say it, but I think we should all be ecstatic if Yadi puts up these numbers in next year. The numbers aren’t very exciting but if you see this production from a 36-year-old who will most likely lead the league in catching innings again and who offers the leadership of Yadi, you just have to be happy.

Yadi’s backup depth chart is pretty thin in just Francisco Pena and Andrew Knizner so if Yadi does go down to injury, the catching position could be in some hot water if the Cardinals just have to throw either of those backups in there.

My prediction: .260 BA, .310 OBP, .375 SLUG, 11 HR, 48 RBI, 1.7 WAR

Remember to enjoy every second we have left with Yadier Molina as the catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals. Yes, we have around 2-3 years left, but just like a parent who has to watch their kids grow up, one day Yadi won’t be there anymore. His production in 2019 will be an important part of the lineup, but even more so will be his leadership for the young pitchers. Love ya Yadi.