Yadier Molina
Yadier Benjamin Molina Matta
(Yadi)
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 5' 11", Weight 225 lb.
- High School Escuela Superior Maestro Ladi
- Debut June 3, 2004
- Final Game October 5, 2022
- Born July 13, 1982 in Bayamon Puerto Rico
Biographical Information[edit]
"You don't ever have to worry about bouncing a ball to Yadier. He's a human vacuum behind the plate. The only thing you have to think about is making the pitch, because you know Yadi's going to catch whatever you throw." - Adam Wainwright
Yadier Molina is a prolific All-Star catcher, making 9 All-Star Game appearances and winning 9 Gold Gloves through 2019. His brothers, Bengie Molina and Jose Molina, have both been catchers in the Major Leagues. He played in the first four World Baseball Classics.
Minors[edit]
Molina was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 4th round of the 2000 amateur draft. He hit .259/.320/.405 for the Johnson City Cardinals in his pro debut the next summer and threw out 43% of attempted base-stealers. Baseball America named him St. Louis's #7 prospect. His offense remained steady with the 2002 Peoria Chiefs (.280/.331/.384) but he showed off an even strong arm, throwing out 52.6% of would-be base thieves. He led Midwest League backstops in assists (140) and double plays (9) and only fanned 36 times in 393 at-bats, the second-lowest rate in the MWL. Baseball America ranked him as the #10 prospect in the Cardinals chain. In 2003, he produced at a .275/.327/.332 clip and threw out 42% of base-stealers for the Tennessee Smokies. Baseball America now put him down as the #4 prospect in the St. Louis system. He began 2004 with the Memphis Redbirds and was hitting .302/.387/.372 after 37 games when Mike Matheny (his future manager) was hurt and Molina was called to the majors for good.
2004-2008: Early years[edit]
Yadier hit .267/.329/.356 in 51 games for the 2004 Cardinals, backing up Matheny. He threw out 8 of 17 players who tried to steal. He had a fine MLB debut: his first time up, he was retired by Oliver Perez, but he singled his next trip to the plate, then doubled in the 7th and was driven in by Woody Williams. In the 8th, he was retired by Mark Corey. He also tagged out Abe Nunez at the plate. His first MLB homer came in late September when he took Matt Wise deep to break a 2-2 tie. He saw little action in the playoffs, sitting out the NLDS and getting into one game in the 2004 NLCS (1 for 4, a single off Roy Oswalt). In the 2004 World Series, he was 0 for 3 as Matheny's backup as the Cards lost to the Red Sox. He hit .297 for the Gigantes de Carolina in the 2004-2005 Puerto Rican Winter League, finishing 10th in average.
He became the starting backstop for the Cardinals in 2005 at age 22. He was the youngest NL catcher to start on Opening Day since Jason Kendall of the 1996 Pirates. Molina hit only .252/.295/.358 for a 70 OPS+ but was superb on defense, with 9 pickoffs and a 64% caught stealing rate. He allowed the fewest steals (14) by a MLB catcher with 100+ starts, 17 ahead of runner-up Joe Mauer. In the 2005 NL, he was second in assists at catcher (66, 4 behind Matheny), 5th in errors (7), tied for first in passed balls (8, even with Humberto Cota), first in percentage caught stealing and tied for 5th in runners caught stealing (even with Jason LaRue). Matheny won the Gold Glove instead, his third in a row (he was now with the Giants). Molina missed over a month after being hit by Claudio Vargas on July 7, giving him a hairline fracture in his left hand. He was back in form by the postseason. He was 3 for 13 with a run and 3 RBI in the NLDS and 7 for 22 with 3 doubles and a run in the 2005 NLCS, which St. Louis lost to Houston.
In the 2006 World Baseball Classic, he backed up the legendary Ivan Rodriguez for Puerto Rico and did very well, going 3 for 5 with a run and a RBI. He had a miserable offensive campaign for the 2006 Cardinals (.216/.274/.321, 53 OPS+, 29 R, 49 RBI) but they kept him in for his defense, as he fielded .995 and threw out 47% of runners who tried to steal. On May 28, he ended a game by picking off Brian Giles, the first catcher pickoff to end a game since Rodriguez had done it in 2002. He was among the 2006 NL leaders in catchers' fielding in games (127, 2nd to Brad Ausmus), assists (79, 1st by 7 over Ronny Paulino), passed balls (7, tied for 5th with Mike Piazza), caught stealing (4th), caught stealing percentage (3rd behind Matt Treanor and Chris Snyder) and fielding percentage (4th). Ausmus got the Gold Glove that time. He kicked it up a few notches in the postseason, when he led Cardinals in hits (19), total bases (29) and average (.358) and was second to Jim Edmonds in RBI (8). His 9th-inning homer off Aaron Heilman broke a 1-1 tie in Game 7 of the NLCS. In the World Series clincher over Detroit, he had 3 hits and 2 runs in a game started by Justin Verlander. The World Series MVP went to David Eckstein, who had similar numbers. In the winter, he again played for the Gigantes, going 3 for 16 with a double, 2 walks, a run and 2 RBI in the 2007 Caribbean Series, his heroics from the 2006 major league postseason not carrying over to the Caribbean.
His hitting improved in 2007 as he hit .275/.340/.368 for a 85 OPS+. He threw out 54% of those who ran on him and fielded .991. He missed time with another injury, this one when future teammate Matt Holliday tipped a foul off his wrist. He also had season-ending right knee surgery in late September. Positives for the year included a 15-game hitting streak, best by a St. Louis backstop since Erik Pappas. He tied Miguel Olivo for the most passed balls (16) in the 2007 NL, tied Paulino for third in runners gunned down (27) and led in caught stealing percentage (13% ahead of runner-up David Ross). He led all major league catchers in percentage gunned down, slightly ahead of Mauer. Russell Martin got the Gold Glove.
While Molina's defense was down in 2008 (.986 FLD%, 35% CS), his offense continued to improve (.304/.349/.392, 37 runs scored, 56 RBI, 96 OPS+). He came up big on June 15; in a 9th-inning home plate collision with a 6-6 game, he hung onto the ball to prevent a loss; St. Louis won in the 10th, with LaRue replacing Molina in the game as he had to be removed on a stretcher. He missed 3 days due to a concussion. His first game back, he homered off Hideki Okajima in a 5-4 win over Boston. He had the most hits (135) by a Cardinals catcher since Ted Simmons in 1980 and became the second Cardinal backstop to hit .300+ in 450+ plate appearances, following Simmons. For the year, he was among the 2008 NL leaders in assists at catcher (70, tied for third with Brian McCann and Snyder), errors (10, 2nd to Martin) and steal percentage (tied for second with brother Bengie, behind Kendall). Despite one of his weaker years defensively, he still won his first Gold Glove; his brother Bengie had taken two in 2002-2003.
2009-2015 : All-Star[edit]
In the 2009 World Baseball Classic, Molina not only backed up Rodriguez but also Geovany Soto. He was 1 for 6, but his hit was a biggie. Down 1-0 in the bottom of the 8th against the Dutch national team, he doubled off Leon Boyd to score Alex Rios with the game-tying run and Mike Aviles with the game-winner. His regular-season progress at the plate continued (.293/.366/.383, 100 OPS+ while his defense rebounded (.995%, 41% CS). He finished among the 2009 NL leaders in double play grounders (27, 2nd to Miguel Tejada), strikeout rate (12.3 AB/K, second to Tejada), games caught (138, 1st), putouts at catcher (884, 4th), assists at catcher (82, 2nd to Martin), caught stealing percentage (3rd behind Ross and Ryan Hanigan), pickoffs (8, 1st) and fielding percentage (tied for third with brother Bengie). He won his second straight Gold Glove. He also started a run as an All-Star. Starting for the NL behind the plate in the 2009 All-Star Game, he drove in the NL's first runs. Down 2-0 in the second, he singled off Roy Halladay to score David Wright; an error on the play brought in Shane Victorino as well. He scored on a double by Prince Fielder. He was retired by Edwin Jackson in the 5th then left for pinch-hitter McCann in the 8th in a 4-3 loss. He was 4 for 13 with a double in the NLDS as the Cards lost to L.A..
Molina's offensive performance fell to .262/.329/.342 for a 84 OPS+ for the 2010 Cardinals while he fielded .995 and threw out 49% of runners trying to steal. He hit a grand slam on Opening Day off Nick Masset to a cap a 11-6 win over Cincinnati, the third Cardinal to hit a grand slam on Opening Day (Mark McGwire and Scott Rolen had done it before). He finished among the 2010 NL leaders in double play grounders (19, 9th), lowest strikeout rate (9.1 AB/K, 6th, between Orlando Cabrera and Jose Reyes), putouts at C (895, 2nd to McCann), games caught (135, one behind McCann), assists (79, 1st by 15 over McCann), double plays (10, 2nd to McCann), passed balls (7, tied for third with Yorvit Torrealba and Jason Castro), caught stealing (33, tied for second with Olivo behind McCann), caught stealing percentage (1st, 6.2% over Olivo) and fielding percentage (4th) en route to a third straight Gold Glove. He missed the last 12 games of the year with right knee soreness. Among MLB catchers, he led in percentage caught stealing, 4.4% ahead of brother Jose. In the 2010 All-Star Game, he started and hit 9th for the NL. He singled off Andy Pettitte in the third inning before being yanked in favor of pinch-hitter McCann in the 5th.
Molina's offensive game picked up incredibly (.305/.349/.465, 32 doubles, 14 HR, 124 OPS+) in 2011 while his defense was worse (29% CS, .995 FLD%). He was a backup to McCann in the 2011 All-Star Game, replacing him in the 5th and doubling off Chris Perez in the 6th. Jay Bruce batted for him in the 8th. He was 8th in the 2011 NL in average (between Aramis Ramirez and Michael Morse), tied Holliday for second in double play grounders (21), was second in lowest strikeout rate (10.8 AB/K, behind Reyes) and first in games caught (137). Despite not making the leaders in any other defensive department, he still won the Gold Glove, while he had not won earlier in his career when his defense was sharper and his offense worse (reinforcing claims the Gold Glove honors offense as much as defense). He was 4 for 19 with a run and a RBI in the NLDS, then improved to .333/.385/.458 with 5 runs in 6 games in the NLCS. In the 2011 World Series, he batted .333/.417/.407 for the champion Cardinals, with 9 RBI in 7 games; he had 4 RBI in Game 3, 3 hits in Game 5 and 2 RBI apiece in Game 6 and 7. It was the most RBI by a catcher in a World Series since fellow Puerto Rican Sandy Alomar Jr. in 1997 and the most hits in a postseason (20) by a catcher since Ivan Rodriguez in 2003. David Freese was named Series MVP.
He had an all-around strong season for the 2012 Cardinals: .315/.373/.501, 22 HR, 65 runs scored, 76 RBI, 137 OPS+, .997 fielding percentage, 48% of runners caught stealing. He led major league backstops with 12 steals and was four homers shy of Simmons for the record by a Cardinal catcher. He also became the first catcher to lead St. Louis in average in back-to-back seasons. He was picked for the 2012 All-Star Game but missed due to bereavement leave for the passing of his wife's grandfather. He finished on the 2012 NL leaderboard in average (4th behind Buster Posey, Andrew McCutchen and Ryan Braun), OPS+ (tied for 7th with teammate Allen Craig), strikeout rate (9.2 AB/K, 6th, between Darwin Barney and Martin Prado), putouts at C (962, 3rd), games caught (136, 2nd, 3 behind Miguel Montero), assists at C (88, 1st by one over A.J. Ellis), double plays at C (12, tied for first with Ellis), caught stealing (35, 3rd behind Posey and Ellis), fielding percentage (2nd to McCann) and caught stealing % (2nd to Hanigan). He won the Gold Glove and finished 4th in voting for the 2012 NL MVP behind Posey, Braun and McCutchen. He was 0 for 4 in the 2012 NL Wild Card Game and 2 for 17 with 5 walks, 3 runs and a RBI in the NLDS. In the 2012 NLCS, he had 11 hits (.393/.393/.429) in 7 games but St. Louis fell to San Francisco as his teammates hit just .193.
He finally got his chance to start for Puerto Rico in a World Baseball Classic in his third try, 2013. He was 7 for 27 with a walk, two runs and no RBI in 7 games as Puerto Rico went to the finals. In the finale, he hit cleanup but came up with a poor day, fanning against Samuel Deduno in the first. In the fourth, he came up with Carlos Beltran on board, no outs and a 2-0 deficit but hit into a double play. He grounded out against Octavio Dotel in the 6th and Santiago Casilla in the 8th and Puerto Rico fell, 3-0, to the Dominican national team. Despite his mediocre performance, he was voted the tourney's All-Star catcher, following in Rodriguez's footsteps from 2009.
He hit .319/.359/.477 with 44 doubles, 80 RBI and a 131 OPS+ for the 2013 Cardinals. In the 2013 All-Star Game, he started and hit 6th for the NL, retired by Chris Sale and Matt Moore before being replaced by Posey. He finished 4th in the 2013 NL in average (behind Michael Cuddyer, Chris Johnson and Freddie Freeman), second in doubles (11 behind Matt Carpenter), 5th in strikeout rate (between Andrelton Simmons and Denard Span), first in games caught (131), 1st in putouts at C (976), tied for 5th in catcher assists (63, even with Nick Hundley and Wilin Rosario), second in catcher double plays (11, one behind Hundley), third in fielding percentage at C (behind Martin and Ellis) and third in caught stealing percent (behind Hanigan and Ellis). He won another Gold Glove. He hit .294/.400/.529 with a homer off Gerrit Cole in the NLDS. In the 2013 NLCS, he fared worse at .227/.320/.277 but St. Louis still advanced to the 2013 World Series, his 4th World Series appearance in 10 seasons to that point. He showed good contact in the Series (7 for 23) but had only one walk, one double, no runs and two RBI as St. Louis fell to Boston. He finished third in voting for the 2013 National League Most Valuable Player Award behind Andrew McCutchen and Paul Goldschmidt, getting the two first-place votes that did not go to McCutchen.
Molina was once again voted the starting catcher for the National League in the 2014 All-Star Game, but this time, he did not play, as he suffered a ligament tear in his thumb when sliding into third base in a game on July 9th. The injury required surgery and forced him to miss many weeks of action, as he only returned to play on August 29th. As a result, he played only 110 games, his lowest total since his rookie season, hitting .282 with 7 homers and 38 RBI. His health was also a concern in the postseason, as he had to leave Game 2 of the NLCS against the San Francisco Giants on October 12th, when he aggravated a pulled oblique muscle. He doubled over in pain after hitting a ground ball and was unable to run to first base, resulting in a double play. He was escorted from the field and it looked like he was done for the series, and possibly even beyond, but the next day the Cardinals said he would not be placed on the disabled list, implying that they were hoping for a return before the end of the Championship Series. In the meantime, the Cardinals had veteran A.J. Pierzynski, who had been acquired at the time of his mid-season injury, and regular back-up Tony Cruz, were both available to fill in. Molina did not return as the Cards were eliminated by the Giants.
In 2015, Molina had another All-Star season as the quiet leader of the team with the best record in the majors. He hit .270 in 136 games, his lowest average since 2010. While he did hit 23 doubles, he had only 4 homers and 34 runs scored, very low totals for him, but he did drive in 61 runs. Defensively, he was as good as ever, however, as Cardinals pitchers had an ERA of 2.79 when he was behind the dish, the lowest by any catcher since Alan Ashby caught for the 1981 Houston Astros. His season ended early, as on September 20th, he suffered a torn ligament in his left thumb, putting him out for a minimum of ten days, but there was still hope he could return to play in the postseason. He did play 3 games in the Division Series, but had only 1 hit in 8 at-bats as his injury was one of a number of key ones that caused the Cards' season to end early.
2016-2022: Final Years[edit]
In 2016, the Cardinals failed to make the postseason, but Molina had another good year, playing 147 games and hitting .307 with 8 homers and 58 RBI. He once again played for Puerto Rico in the 2017 World Baseball Classic - they lost in the finals for the second straight tournament - then signed a three-year contract extension just as the season was about to begin. On Opening Day, April 2nd, he became the first batter to be issued a no-pitch intentional walk, when Cubs manager Joe Maddon called for the strategy in the 9th inning, with the scored tied at 3 and first base open following a double by Jose Martinez. Mike Montgomery was the pitcher, but the strategy failed to work as a couple of batters later, Randal Grichuk hit a game-winning single with the bases loaded. On April 6th, he was involved in a bizarre play in the 7th inning of a game against the Cubs when a pitch by Brett Cecil bounced in the dirt and then stuck to his chest protector as he was looking all around him unable to find the ball. Matt Szczur was able to reach on a dropped third strike and a rattled Cecil then issued a walk to Jon Jay and was victimized by a three-run homer by Kyle Schwarber as the Cubs went on to win, 6-4. Molina did not want to say what was the substance on his chest that could ensnare a ball so tightly. Major League Baseball looked at the incident but found no rules violation as simply having a sticky surface on one's uniform, with no attempt to use it to deface the baseball, is not illegal for a position player. He was named to the All-Star team for the eighth time that season and had a memorable game on many fronts. Replacing Buster Posey for the second half of the game, he stood out by wearing gold colored catcher's gear, then took a turn as a photographer as Nelson Cruz asked him to snap a picture of him with umpire Joe West as he came up to bat in the 6th. Molina obliged, then when he came up against Ervin Santana in the bottom of the frame, he homered to the opposite field to tie the game at one. That was still the score in the 9th when he drew a lead-off walk against Craig Kimbrel. He advanced to second on a passed ball and to third on a fly out by Paul Goldschmidt, but was unable to score the winning run - which would have surely made him the game's MVP - when Michael Conforto struck out to end the inning. He finished the year at .273 in 136 games with 18 homers and 82 RBI. His low number of walks (28 in 501 at-bats) dragged down his OBP and his OPS+, which was just 96 in spite of superficially solid numbers.
On April 8, 2018, he got caught up in a bizarre incident in the 2nd inning of a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. D-Backs manager Torey Lovullo came out to confront umpire Tim Timmons after he had called out A.J. Pollock on strikes; Molina was just an onlooker until Lovullo said something that made him completely lose his cool, as he tried to punch Lovullo, Timmons having to restrain him, while the benches cleared. Lovullo was ejected, but not Yadier; it appears the manager had used a strong profanity in describing Molina's ability to frame pitches to the umpire, something for which he later apologized. Both Lovullo and Molina were handed one-game suspensions for their role in the incident. On May 5th, he was hit in the groin by a foul tip off a 102 mph fastball from rookie Jordan Hicks. It caused a serious and very painful injury, requiring immediate medical attention and putting him out of action for a prolonged period. He returned to the lineup on June 5th, having missed exactly a month. Yadi was not originally named to the 2018 All-Star Game, his 9th, but his name was added to the NL roster when Posey bowed out with a hip injury. He ended up playing 123 games, during which he hit .261 with 20 homers and 74 RBI. Following the season, he was named the recipient of the Roberto Clemente Award in recognition of his humanitarian work, and especially his efforts to give support to the victims of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. This was particularly meaningful for him, as Clemente was Puerto Rico's most famous ballplayer and an obvious role model for Molina.
On April 1, 2019, he added another line to his already jam-packed résumé when he played third base for the first time in an extra-inning game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Matt Carpenter had been ejected in the top of the 11th for arguing a called third strike on a checked swing, and with the Cards' last bench player, back-up catcher Matt Wieters having entered the game as a pinch-hitter later that inning, it was between the two backstops who would man the hot corner. He did not have to make a play as the Pirates went down in order in the bottom of the inning and the Cardinals won the game, 6-5. He batted .270/.312/.399 on the campaign and set the big league record for most appearances by a National Leaguer in the postseason, appearing in his 94th game during the Cards' march to the NLCS, where they bowed out to the Washington Nationals in 4 games.
He entered the final year of his contract in 2020 and told reporters that he would never play for another team that the Cardinals: if they wanted him back after the season, he would continue with them, but otherwise, he would retire. That year, he collected his 2,000th career hit on September 24th, in the 7th inning of a 4-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers, after playing in 2,000th game earlier in the season. It hadn't been an easy year, as he was one of the Cards players to test positive for COVID-19 in late July, forcing the team to be idle for over two weeks, and he did not return until August 20th. In spite of the adversity, the Cards were still in playoff contention heading into the final three-game series of the season following their win over Milwaukee, and even had an outside shot at finishing first in the division. The Cards ended up in second place as Molina hit .262 with 4 homers and 16 RBIs in 42 games, and faced the San Diego Padres in the Wild Card Series. It was a wild three games, with Yadi going 6 for 13 with a pair of doubles, but the Cards were eliminated. He was then the All-Star catcher in the 2021 Caribbean Series; his Criollos de Caguas finished second.
In 2021, he was back as the starting catcher for the Cardinals, and made the All-Star team for the 10th time, although an injury prevented him from appearing in the game. On September 3rd, he started a game behind the plate with Adam Wainwright as the starting pitcher for the 300th time; they were only the fourth battery in major league history to reach such a total, the last having been Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan with the Detroit Tigers in the 1960s and 1970s. He finished the season at .252 in 121 games with 11 homers and 56, and helped the Cardinals to climb out of what looked like a desperate position in mid-season to claim the final Wild Card spot in the National League. He started the Wild Card Game against the Dodgers on October 6tg with the Cards overwhelming underdogs, but they managed to give Los Angeles a scare before they won it on a two-run homer by Chris Taylor in the bottom of the 9th. Yadier went 0 for 4 in the game. Following that season, he announced that 2022 would be his final year in the majors. That year became even more special in spring training, when the Cards signed his old teammate, 1B Albert Pujols, during spring training - and he also said this was going to be his final season, something which a third member of the old gang, SP Wainwright, also hinted at. On May 4th, he formed a battery with Wainwright in a 10-0 win ovver the Kansas City Royals it was the 202nd time the two had worked together in a win for Adam, tying the all-time mark held by Warren Spahn and Del Crandall. On May 8th, he reached yet another milestone with his 1,000th career RBI and on May 15th he claimed the record for most wins by a battery when he teamed up with Wainwright in a 15-6 win over the San Francisco Giants. On May 22nd, one week after his friend Pujols, he got to make his pitching debut as well, under similar circumstances to Albert's pitching debut: with the Cardinals holding an 18-0 lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates, who had already used their own position player as a pitcher in the guise of Josh VanMeter, he pitched the 9th to "close out" the win, allowing 4 runs in the process while not even pretending to pass for a major league pitcher. He got to pitch again on June 8th, in an 11-3 blowout loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, and recorded his first career strikeout, the victim being Isaac Paredes. On June 14th, he recorded putout #14,865 of his career, breaking the all-time record held by Ivan Rodriguez; the historic out came on a foul pop-up by Ke'Bryan Hayes of the Pittsburgh Pirates. On September 8th, he and Wainwright set another record, with their 324th start as a battery, tying the mark set by Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan of the Detroit Tigers in the 1960s and 1970s. In that game, an 11-6 loss to the Nationals, he hit a pair of home runs, after not having gone deep in nearly four months. The pair set a new record on September 14th. He finished the year at .214 in 78 games, with 5 homers and 24 RBIs. He then started both games of the Wild Card Series in which the Cardinals were upset by the Philadelphia Phillies, going 1 for 8 in what were the final appearances of his career.
===Post-playing career===l He did not wait long to find his next role after making his retirement as a player official, as he took on the task of managing the Puerto Rican national team in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. He was no stranger to the tournament, having appeared as a player in its first four editions, including twice reaching the finals. He had gotten his feet wet earlier that off-season by managing the Navegantes del Magallanes in the Venezuelan League. He had a longer-term plan to manage in the major leagues, but in the immediate, wanted to concentrate on working with his son's U15 team. In 2024-25, he moved to the Dominican League as manager of the Águilas Cibaeñas. One of his rival managers in the league that season was long-time Cardinals teammate Albert Pujols, who was the skipper of the Leones del Escogido.
Notable Achievements[edit]
- 10-time NL All-Star (2009-2015, 2017, 2018 & 2021)
- 9-time NL Gold Glove Winner (2008-2015 & 2018)
- NL Silver Slugger Award Winner (2013)
- 20-Home Run Seasons: 2 (2012 & 2018)
- Won two World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2006 and 2011
Records Held[edit]
- Putouts, catcher, career, 15,122
Further Reading[edit]
- Nathalie Alonso: "Pujols bests Yadi in 1st meeting as managers in DR", mlb.com, November 5, 2024. [1]
- Ian Browne: "Yadi managing Team PR ... a glimpse of what's to come?", mlb.com, March 8, 2023. [2]
- Alexis Brudnicki: "'Anything he wants': When Cards found Yadi", mlb.com, February 10, 2021. [3]
- John Denton: "Molina excited to reunite with Albert for final season", mlb.com, March 28, 2022. [4]
- John Denton: "Win 202 ties Waino-Yadi battery atop all-time list", mlb.com, May 4, 2022. [5]
- John Denton: "Yadi follows Pujols’ lead, takes the mound: Catcher has same ERA as fellow Cards icon after pitching debut", mlb.com, May 22, 2022. [6]
- John Denton: "With 14,865th putout, Yadi sets MLB record", mlb.com, June 14, 2022. [7]
- John Denton: "Yadi delivers 'prime-time moment' in milestone start with Waino", mlb.com, September 8, 2022. [8]
- Richard Justice: "Cards, Molina a match too perfect to end", mlb.com, March 30, 2017. [9]
- Jenifer Langosch: "Molina homers in memorable All-Star night: Wearing gold gear, Cardinals catcher takes photo for Mariners' Cruz", mlb.com, July 12, 2017. [10]
- Jenifer Langosch: "Yadi on ground in PR delivering food, water: Cards catcher also raising funds for Maria victims in his homeland", mlb.com, October 16, 2017. [11]
- Jenifer Langosch: "Yadi recognized with 2018 Clemente Award", mlb.com, October 24, 2018. [12]
- Bob Nightengale: "Yadier Molina: The constant in the Cardinals' decade of dominance", USA Today Sports, September 9, 2015. [13]
- Jorge L. Ortiz: "Yadier Molina looks like a thumbs-up for Opening Day", USA Today Sports, March 29, 2016. [14]
- Anne Rogers: "Yadi: Cardinal for life or 'that's it for me'", mlb.com, January 20, 2020. [15]
- Andrew Simon: "Your jaw will drop at this Yadi stat, trust us", mlb.com, March 12, 2021. [16]
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