Yadier Molina is one of the best catchers the St. Louis Cardinals, let alone the game of baseball has seen, plain and simple.
Spending his entire 19-year career with the Red Birds, Molina was a 10-time All-Star, a two-time World Series champion, and a nine-time Gold Glove Award winner.
Yet still, some people will say he doesn’t deserve to be enshrined in Cooperstown in the Baseball Hall of Fame, due to him primarily being a “defensive” catcher, most of his notoriety coming from his defensive work.
However, Hall of Famer pitcher and Molina’s former teammate John Smoltz will strongly disagree.
“He’s the best. Everyone kept saying for the longest time, ‘Well, you can’t make the Hall of Fame as just a defensive catcher.’ Well, I’m here to tell you he’s going to be in the Hall of Fame, and he wasn’t just a defensive catcher,” Smoltzy said to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The former Cy Young Award winner also highlighted Molina’s framework and his approach to his position, both of which he considers the best of all time.
“The presentation at the plate, I would argue that he was the best all time,” said Smoltz. “The one thing you knew, first of all, he could watch film forever. He was totally prepared. Every pitch was pretty much called with a purpose. He understood the game and watched hitters, understood hitting, and he exposed it. He was the threat.”
Smoltz had his plaque made in Cooperstown in 2015 after a decorated career, and Molina is sure to follow suit when he’s eligible.
