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St. Louis Cardinals: Yadier Molina’s Bat Is on Fire

By Brendan Dlubala

Aug 24, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina (4) is congratulated by manager Mike Matheny (22) after scoring during the seventh inning against the New York Mets at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 24, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina (4) is congratulated by manager Mike Matheny (22) after scoring during the seventh inning against the New York Mets at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /
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St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina hasn’t been an elite offensive threat for a couple of years. But the 34-year-old has been hitting like one since the All-Star break.

Overall, Yadier Molina’s production this season has been pretty good. He’s averaging .296 with a .351 on-base percentage and a .419 slugging percentage. If he maintains this production, these would be his best stats since 2013 when he won the National League Silver Slugger award for catchers. Furthermore, he is striking out (10.5 percent) and walking (7.1 percent) like a 30-year-old Yadier Molina. The only noticeable downfall has been home runs. Yadi has seven on the season so far which is good enough to match his 2014 total.

Many may think that Molina has been doing well all season with those kinds of numbers. But that isn’t the case. The prestigious catcher had a great April but an absolutely terrible May and June. But since the All-Star break, he’s been on fire.

As shown above, he continues to improve. After the All-Star break, Yadier Molina has slashed .361/.391/.554. He also has 17 doubles through 60 hits (28.33 percent). In addition to that, he has a .450 batting average with two home runs and three doubles with five RBI in the month of September. If he was hitting similar to this through the first half, Yadi would have easily made his eighth consecutive All-Star Game.

Yadier Molina turned 34 in July. But since then, he’s been hitting like he’s 30. Consequently, as he has gotten older, discussions about giving him more rest throughout a season have come up. His health has been paramount to the Cardinals’ success in recent years. But while he’s playing like this, can manager Mike Matheny reasonably give him days off? It doesn’t seem likely even with Brayan Pena recently being activated. Yadier Molina is hitting too well and the Cardinals are in too tight of a spot to give their hot bats rest.

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The St. Louis Cardinals are currently tied with the New York Mets for the second Wild Card position. Their offense has carried them this far despite a large number of injuries and inconsistent pitching. Yadier Molina has been a large part of that, and they’ll need him along with their other hot bats to remain on fire through this final stretch.

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