Cardinals: Yadier Molina read signs from Giants coaches, makes brilliant play

Watch St. Louis Cardinals legendary catcher Yadier Molina read signs from Giants coaches and make an absolutely brilliant play.

Yadier Molina is known for many things. But his baseball IQ, and situational awareness, may be No. 1 – and was that ever displayed in the St. Louis Cardinals series against the San Francisco Giants.

With a runner on first base, Molina looked toward the Giants dugout, then at the third base coach and finally at the first base coach. His pregame studying had indicated to him that the Giants were preparing to steal second base, so he called a pitchout. Sure enough, the runner was attempting to steal second base, and Molina threw him out by 20 feet.

The play, which you can watch here, underscores why Molina is a Hall of Famer. There are simply not many players who are built and wired like him. That situational awareness is a large part of what has made the Molina/Adam Wainwright duo so successful for two decades and why the Cardinals seemingly find themselves in postseason contention on an annual basis.

In his 19th season, Molina has had his ups and downs. While his defense remains elite, as evidenced by Saturday, his offense has been shaky. He’s hitting .236/.236/.319 with one home run and two RBI in 72 plate appearances. But in the last two weeks, he’s hitting .292/.292/.500 with a .792 OPS, which is a potential sign that he’s starting to get warmed up following a condensed spring training.

It bodes well for the Cardinals that they remain 18-15 and only 2.5 games back in the National League Central despite Molina not performing to his capability and the offense struggling as a whole. Once both start clicking on all cylinders, that deficit in the division figures to evaporate quickly, and should lead to a thrilling 162-game race for the divisional crown.

But despite Molina struggling at the plate this season, he’s still finding ways to make a difference, and Saturday’s game against the Giants was the latest example of that.