Cardinals legend Yadier Molina will be wearing his familiar No. 4 when he serves Friday and Saturday as a guest coach for St. Louis in a home series against the rival Chicago Cubs.
He is doing so at the invitation of manager Oliver Marmol, who extended the offer to Molina when the 10-time All-Star catcher told him he’d be in town for an event and wanted to be involved in some way.
Molina, 43, hasn’t worn a Cardinals uniform since he retired at the end of the 2022 season.
“It’s the right thing to do for our players, our staff, and for our fan base,” Marmol told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Friday. “I want to have him around. I love the fact that he’ll be in the dugout for two days. I think it will be awesome for players and for fans, for all of it, to have him here.”
Molina played his entire 19-year career with St. Louis and won nine Gold Gloves, four Platinum Gloves and two World Series championships.
The experience he gets over two days at Busch Stadium can help him prepare for his job as the manager of Team Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic next spring. He also was the manager in 2023, and he has said his goal is to manage in the big leagues.
Molina appeared in 2,224 games from 2004-22, with 2,184 of them at the catcher position. He hit over .300 five times and ended with a career .277 batting average, 2,168 hits, 176 homers and 1,022 RBIs.
He hit .273 in 104 playoff games with four homers and 36 RBIs.
On defense, he had a stellar career .995 fielding percentage behind the plate and threw out 40.3 percent of players attempting to steal a base.
“I’m looking forward to having him back in uniform. There’s a deep respect there, not just for how he sees the game, but for the way he carries himself,” Marmol told The Athletic.
“Even in just a short window, I know he can leave a lasting impact on our players,” he added. “He leads by example, and in his own powerful way, he shows these young guys what’s possible when you pour everything you have into the game. That kind of presence, it stays with you.”
–Field Level Media
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