They say all good things must come to an end, and St. Louis Cardinals have to be accepting of that. Gone are the Albert Pujols, Adam Wainwright, and Yadier Molina hay-days. Just weeks ago, it got to a point where Cardinals Nation was growing frustrated with their veteran behind the plate, but it looks like he is finally starting to bounce back.
Yadier Molina could be batting .000 this season, and fans would still feel sad when he hangs up the cleats. It really felt like Yadi was putting up those numbers in his second-half slump. The good sign for Cardinals fans is that Molina can feel the fall breeze in the air, and he is ready for October baseball.
Yadier Molina’s Offense Still Alive
It is no longer time to give up hope on the defensive stud Yadier Molina; in fact, it is time to once again believe in our man behind the plate. We love him behind the plate, but when he would step on the other side, it was almost always an out. Perhaps Yadi read my article about him last month during his slump. Feel free to credit me for his success.
When that article was written, he had a .214 average and a .507 OPS. You do not have to be a mathematician to know these numbers are not good. That was too nice on my end; these numbers are horrendous. Less than a month later, Yadier Molina has turned things around.
Yadier Molina made some changes to his approach, and through September, he has a 1.042 OPS. That is double the number it was just 20 days ago. Of course, it is a small sample size as we are only halfway through September, but progress is progress.
He had no pop all year long, but has doubled his home run total this month and has a .655 SLG in September. In 40 less at-bats than August, he has nearly tripled his RBI total as he has seven so far.
Knock on wood, but Molina’s offense is beginning to have a bit of a spark again.
History Made for Yadi and Waino
It would be a shame to write about Yadier Molina without touching on the history that was just made. On Wednesday, Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright started their 325th game together as a battery. That is the most in MLB history, and will likely never be broke.
We are witnessing so much history right before our eyes as Cardinals fans. We are such a spoiled franchise, and sometimes we just have to sit back and smile about everything that is going on. Pujols chasing 700, Yadi and Waino making history and of course, the Chicago Cubs being terrible.
Let’s look at how these battery mates did in their 325th start with one another as they took on the Milwaukee Brewers. As a side note, Albert Pujols did not hit a home run, but he hit RBI No. 2200 in the 4-1 victory in the pivotal NL Central battle.
Yadier Molina did what he needed to do. He went 1-3 with a crucial RBI single in the bottom of the second to take the lead. He knocked one off the end of his bat, pulling it between third and short.
Wainwright had had a rough start but pulled through. He allowed a lot of early hits, including his first seven which were given up with two strikes. He made big pitches when they mattered, and after allowing a run off a sacrifice fly in the top of the second from Tyrone Taylor, that was all the Brewers could tack on.
The 41-year-old threw 5.0 innings allowing eight hits, one run and three strikeouts. He earned his 195th career win and Ryan Helsley earned the save. That is vintage Waino for you; he painted the zone, allowed a fair amount of hits and simply showed up when was needed.
