The St. Louis Cardinals have had some incredible players come through their organization over the years, and recently, Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina stand out as being among the all-time greatest in baseball history.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today shared comments from Hall of Fame pitcher and Fox Broadcaster, John Smoltz, calling Molina the "best of all time" at the catcher position.
"The presentation (framing) at the plate, I would argue that he was the best all time," Smoltz said, "He understood the game and watched hitters, understood hitting, and he exposed it. He was the threat."
It's incredibly high praise from Smoltz, as he's calling Molina the "best of all time" at the catcher position. While he's focusing on the presentation, he also highlights some other areas of his defensive prowess, which made Molina the best of all time in his mind.
Smoltz made a comparison with Molina and an NFL defensive back in how they impact the game. Even if their impacts go unnoticed, Smoltz made a strong comparison to illustrate how great Molina is.
"You talk about a (defensive back) in football, who takes away the left side of the field for a quarterback. Quarterback won't even look over there." Smoltz said. "He took away the running game. He sat behind the plate with a presence that affected the other team and their strategy. There were things that other teams knew they couldn't do when they came to play the St. Louis Cardinals."
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By cutting down would-be base-stealers so frequently throughout his MLB career, Molina created a mythos about himself that shut down an entire segment of MLB teams' offenses.
It's an incredible feat, taking away such a large part of the game on his own. In his MLB career, he has caught 381 base runners stealing. While he was just 212th all-time in caught stealing percentage, it's a list dominated by older players.
Among active catchers, Salvador Perez is in first place with a 33.47 caught stealing percentage. Molina, in 2022, his final season in MLB, was the active leader in caught-stealing percentage.
His defensive metrics should elevate him into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Whether it's his pitch calling, ability to throw out base stealers, or his defense overall, not many catchers can compare to Molina all-time defensively.
Molina has 27.6 defensive WAR in his 19 seasons with the Cardinals, which is the 14th most defensive WAR in baseball history. While he wasn't a slugger like some other top catchers in MLB history, his stellar defense is enough to get him into the Hall of Fame. The only question is whether he's first ballot, and what percentage of the vote he gets.