Molina’s experience, work ethic leading Cardinals into NLCS
By Tab Bamford
St Louis – Two years ago Miles Mikolas was pitching in Japan for the Yomiuri Giants. He fondly remembers how the crowd chanted his name after he hit a double in a rivalry game. Mikolas was part of a few big games and series during his three seasons in the Nippon Professional Baseball.
On Friday, he will start Game 1 of the National League Championship Series in St. Louis – a stage unlike anything he saw overseas.
Thankfully, he’ll be throwing to a catcher who’s been there and done that: Yadier Molina.
“It does a great deal to settle the nerves when you know you have someone back there who has probably seen just about any situation you can imagine in a baseball game unfold,” Mikolas said Thursday. “[Molina has] been there; he’s seen it from the catcher’s viewpoint, which is probably the best one to have out there. The whole team feeds off that.”
Molina, 37, has two World Series rings at home. The Bayamon, Puerto Rico native has worked hard to build a legacy in St. Louis that places him among the all-time greats in franchise history.
In Game 5 of the division series against the Braves, he became the all-time leader in postseason games played in the National League, passing Chipper Jones. Even though he struggled at the plate against Atlanta, his two RBI came at the biggest moments in the series for the Cardinals. A bloop single that barely escaped Freddy Freeman’s glove tied Game 4 and his walkoff sacrifice fly led to an epic celebration.
This is Molina’s 10th postseason. That foundational experience gives his teammates like Mikolas confidence. But how he works even at the end of a long season inspires the other Cardinals as well.
When the Cardinals traded their top catching prospect, Carson Kelly, to Arizona in the deal that acquired Paul Goldschmidt, the organization needed someone to share the load behind the plate with Molina. The team signed four-time all-star Matt Wieters, who won two Gold Glove Awards in the American League.
Wieters has been impressed and motivated by Molina’s work ethic. The daily preparation and attention to detail that Molina shows, continuing to do some of what Wieters described as “the most monotonous drills,” pushes the Cardinals to work harder.
“From the outside, you realize how great Yadi is just watching him play but the attention to detail he pays to all of the small things in the game,” said Wieters. “Over the course of his career that he would be … comfortable receiving the ball but he still works on it non-stop. That’s one of the things that really motivated me this year.
“He’s probably the greatest at his position and he still works at it like he’s gotta go out and prove something every day.”
The Cardinals proved they were worthy of an NLCS berth. Now the team will look to the leadership and work ethic of Molina to take them back to the World Series.
Featured Image: Jean Fruth / La Vida Baseball