With the candidates for the American League MVP Award essentially determined already (Mike Trout, Miguel Cabrera), let’s turn our attention to the National League. The award is wide open this year with no clear favorite standing out.
Who will claim 2014’s National League Most Valuable Player Award? You can be sure it will be one of these players.
All statistics are courtesy of baseball-reference.com and fangraphs.com, unless otherwise noted.
Once the Cardinals finish up their West Coast swing through Arizona and San Francisco, they’ll find themselves smack-dab in the middle of a duel against their fiercest competition for the NL Central crown, the Cincinnati Reds.
Over the last few seasons, this has developed into a bitter rivalry. David Schoenfield of ESPN said in 2011 the Cardinals and Reds has become the best rivalry in baseball.
There have been some tense and exciting moments over the last few seasons between these two teams. From Brandon Philips igniting the fire with his inflammatory remarks over Twitter a few years back to the infamous brawl that ended backup catcher Jason LaRue’s career, this rivalry has taken on a life of its own.
Now fast-forwarding to 2013, the NL Central race will most likely come down to the Reds and the Cardinals.
The Cardinals have not started off the 2013 campaign the way they had hoped. Ace Adam Wainwright did not pitch well on Opening Night in Arizona and the Cardinals fell, 6-2, to the Diamondbacks.
After playing well in game two of the series and taking down the D-Backs 6-1, the bullpen killed the Cardinals in game three, blowing four leads before losing in 16 innings, 10-9.
On Friday, the Cardinals’ left their bats in Arizona and were blanked by the Giants, 1-0.
The Reds, on the other hand, have started out the season well. They have posted a 3-1 record and taken two-of-three from the offensive juggernaut known as the Los Angeles Angels, to go along with thrashing the Nationals in their series opener, 15-0.
Last season the Cardinals held a slight advantage against the Reds with an 8-7 record. This season, the Cardinals will need to improve upon that record if they want to win the NL Central. They will need to create separation from the Reds by winning the head-to-head competition.
Game 1 Pitching Matchup
The first game of the series features Jaime Garcia against Mat Latos. Garcia pitched very well against the Diamondbacks in his first start this season. As he starts the home opener for the Cardinals, fans should know that Garcia has a 8-2 record in his career against the Reds in 11 career starts.
Latos will have to face his demons in Busch Stadium. He is 1-3 there with a 13.50 ERA Hopefully for Cardinal fans, that trend will keep up.
Game 2 Pitching Matchup
In Game 2 of the series, the Cardinals will send Lance Lynn out to face Bronson Arroyo. Lynn hasn’t seemed to overcome his postseason demons from last season. He only lasted four innings in his season debut and gave up four runs, walking three and serving up a home run.
Arroyo has made 31 career starts against the Cardinals and posted an 8-13 record with a 4.56 ERA. In 2012, he was 1-1 with a 4.15 ERA when pitching against the Cardinals.
Game 3 Pitching Matchup
Jake Westbrook will lead the Cardinals into the final game of the first 2013 series against the Reds. He’ll be opposed by Homer Bailey.
Westbrook owns a 3-2 record agains the Reds in his career in nine starts.
Bailey hasn’t pitched very well against the Cardinals in his career. He has a 3-7 record with a 5.00 ERA in 13 career starts. That said, Bailey shut down the Nationals’ lineup in a 15-0 shellacking on Friday night. He allowed two hits and no runs in six innings of work.
Predictions:
Game 1: With the Reds hitting the ball like they have a vendetta against it, it will be tough for Garcia to keep them in check.
However, he is quite capable of doing so and with the Cardinals’ success against Mat Latos, game one should go to the Cardinals.
Game 2: I don’t have much faith that Lance Lynn will get out of the fourth inning against the Reds’ prolific offense. He hasn’t had much luck in 2013 between spring training and his first start of the season.
If the Cardinals’ offense doesn’t show up against Bronson Arroyo, it could be a long day for the Cardinals and their bullpen. Game two goes to the Reds.
Game 3: If Jake Westbrook can get his sinker to do what it is capable of and the Cardinals can get to Homer Bailey early, it could be a good day for the Redbirds.
With the way Todd Frazier (.471 batting average, three home runs at time of writing) and the Reds’ bats have come out of the gate, it will be a tough assignment for Westbrook.
This one will be a tossup. Whichever club strikes early will probably get the win. Neither Westbrook nor Bailey are prone to make it past the sixth inning, so it will come down to the bullpens. Both clubs are expecting their bullpens to be a strength this season, and this will be an early test.
With the history that has been built over the last few seasons between these clubs and the lack of love for one another, it should be a great series to watch.
Hopefully there will be some fireworks to set the tone for the rest of the season when these two clubs hook up down the road.
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If Puerto Rico is going to win the World Baseball Classic, it needs prime production from every member of its lineup, especially cleanup hitter Yadier Molina.
After taking care off business against Team USA and Japan, the only thing standing between Puerto Rico and the World Baseball crown is the undefeated Dominican Republic.
The two teams met not too long ago on Saturday, March 16. The Puerto Rican bats were cold as ice and could not produce any runs on simply three hits. The Dominicans, on the other hand, had two runs on six hits.
With this game fresh in mind, it’s not impossible to foresee a scenario where the Puerto Ricans are able to squeeze past the Dominican Republic.
Absent from Saturday’s game was Molina. He’s the team’s third best hitter with .333/.375/.481 behind Angel Pagan and Mike Aviles.
Molina came back for the semifinal game against Japan but failed to impress in Puerto Rico’s 3-1 victory. He went 0-for-4 and was the only player on the team besides Andy Gonzalez to not come up with a hit.
When Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic clash on Tuesday, March 19, the Puerto Ricans can’t have someone in the cleanup spot that doesn’t hit the ball.
Molina needs to have the game of his life.
In three out of their last four games, the Dominican Republic has come from behind to win.
Against the United States, the Dominicans broke up a tie game in the top of the ninth inning to win 3-1.
In the semifinals against the Netherlands, the Dominican Republic was down by one run but turned the tables after a monster performance in the fifth inning that saw the team score four runs.
But the most impressive turnaround came against Italy, where the Dominican Republic came back from four runs down to win 5-4.
On the flip side, these results show that it is possible to get ahead of the Dominicans in the early innings. The problem is that it’s hard to stop them from rallying.
Puerto Rico has especially had problems with Robinson Cano and Edwin Encarnacion during this tournament. In the two meetings between these two countries, the sluggers have gone 7-for 15.
That’s why Molina is going to be so crucial to Puerto Rico’s title hopes.
If he picks up his performance from the semifinal, then we might have a ball game on our hands. If not, then it looks like the Dominican Republic will keep dancing.
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Yadier Molina has become the current face of the St. Louis Cardinals organization. After Albert Pujols packed up last offseason and headed west, Cardinal fans turned their focus to hoping Yadier wouldn’t follow Albert out of town.
Talk about an PR nightmare if the Cardinals brass didn’t lock up Molina on a long-term deal. Thankfully for the fans in the best baseball town in America, John Mozeliak and company did just that. Molina signed a five-year/$75 million extension during spring training in 2012.
Molina responded well to his hefty contract by having a career year in 2012. Molina hit .316 with 22 HR and 76 RBI, all career highs.
Yadi has been on the upswing at the plate almost every year since his miserable 2006 where he batted a paltry .216. But now that Molina has had a career year at the plate, is this going to be the expected norm moving forward?
Yadier was a beneficiary of a lineup that features Matt Holliday, Carlos Beltran, Allan Craig and David Freese. Granted Molina batted sixth for most of the season, so he did not have a lot of protection behind him.
But what he did find from that excellent lineup in front of him was runners on base on a regular basis when he stepped to the plate. Molina batted .330 with runners on base with 64 RBI. With runners in scoring position, he batted a very solid .321 with 51 RBI.
What I gleaned from those numbers is that Yadier loves to hit in the moment. He found a way to get on base and drive the ball when it counted. Molina posted a career-high .373 OBP in 2012.
So the question is: Can Yadier have a similar season or better in 2013?
My guess is he can have a similar season to his 2012 output if he stays healthy. Molina has taken on a much larger leadership role with the Cardinals and as such is setting the example of what is expected when you are a Cardinal. His hard work and dedication has paid off at the plate and in the clubhouse.
That is not to say he didn’t do those things before, but Cardinal fans saw a different Yadier last season.
He will start the season at 30 and turns 31 in July, so he should be right in his prime and it is showing. Molina will never be Johnny Bench or Mike Piazza at the plate, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him crank out 25 HR and 85 RBI next season and keep his average around .300.
The bar has been set high on what will be expected from Molina in 2013. But Molina should be poised for the challenge and will hopefully help the Cardinals to another extended October appearance.
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St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina is bringing home another chunk of hardware.
In a televised announcement Tuesday evening, Molina was awarded his fifth consecutive Gold Glove for his stellar defensive performance behind the plate.
Last week, he was honored with the Fielding Bible Award in a unanimous vote and more recognition this week only further illustrates his prowess as a defender.
For years, Molina has been pegged by most as the best defensive catcher in baseball and for the most part that is reflective in the Cardinals team defensive statistics.
A total of 56 bases were stolen against the Cardinals in 2012. That ranks the team 29th of 30.
In terms of runners caught stealing, a total of 43 base stealers were busted in 2012. That puts the Cardinals in a tie for seventh in all of MLB.
There’s a reason there aren’t many stolen bases – they simply don’t run on Molina anymore.
The fact that only 43 base runners were caught is a testament to the same.
The Cardinals stolen base percentage in 2012 also came in at 29th with .566 – one 1/100th of a percentage point from being the best in baseball.
No one argues about Molina’s defensive ability. After 2012, no one will be arguing about his offensive output either.
Molina had career highs in home runs (22), RBI (76), batting average (.315), runs scored (65), hits (159), stolen bases (12), OBP (.373), slugging (.501) and OPS (.874).
He has officially transitioned into an elite five-tool player.
Molina hits well for average, for power, he’s not the fastest but he is a smart base runner, he has one of the best arms in the league and his fielding ability is second to none.
He also brings a lot of intangibles to the team as well in his work with the pitching staff. He knows the competition well and knows his competition better. Both have a mutual respect for him.
Prior to his start in Game 5 of the 2012 National League Championship Series, Cardinals RHP Lance Lynn spoke about what Molina means to him as a starter.
“You see Yadi doing his work day in and day out,” Lynn said. “The guy never wants to take a day off. We have to force him to take a day off here and there during the season. So you know that he wants to be the best. In my opinion he is the best.”
With that kind of work ethic comes a deep level of trust.
“He has a great feel for what they’re trying to do and he knows how we can be successful with doing what we do the best as that pitcher that’s on the mound at that time,” he said. “You have the most faith that you can have with someone when every time he puts down a finger you know that there’s a good thought behind it. He’s not just down there putting fingers down for the heck of it.”
Molina’s performance this past season makes his contract extension look like a bargain at $14.5 million AAV over five years through 2017 with a $15 million mutual option for 2018. Had the Cardinals not gotten a deal worked out prior to the season, he would have brought big bucks on the free agent market.
It’s not his first Gold Glove, but with a minimum of five more years in his contract and after watching him grow in 2012, there is no reason to expect this to be Yadier Molina’s last either.
Corey Noles is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.
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The Pittsburgh Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals are in the middle of a pivotal series in the National League wild-card race, and Yadier Molina felt the full intensity Tuesday night.
In the bottom of the second inning, after Jose Tabata singled to right, Cardinals outfielder Carlos Beltran came up throwing as Pirates second baseman Josh Harrison rounded third base.
Update: Tuesday, August 28 at 8:56 p.m. ET by Ian Hanford
MLB.com reporter Jenifer Langosch quelled concerns regarding Molina’s injury status Tuesday evening:
#STLCards announce that Yadier Molina left with an upper back/neck/shoulder strain. Day-to-day. This is good news…
— Jenifer Langosch (@LangoschMLB) August 29, 2012
This is good news for the Cardinals and better news for Molina. A collision like this could have had more worse results.
—————End of Update——————–
I’ll let Baseball Tonight host Steve Berthiaume tell you what happened next:
OUCH! #StlCards Yadier Molina leaving game after he was CRUSHED in plate collision with #Pirates @jhay_da_man
— Steve Berthiaume (@SBerthiaumeESPN) August 28, 2012
As you can see, it was a scary situation:
Molina struggled to get his bearings. He was obviously feeling every inch of Harrison’s stocky frame as St. Louis trainers tended to him near home plate.
Things like this happen every now and then, but that doesn’t make it any easier to see. Molina was taken to the clubhouse for further examination, and we will have to wait to see his status moving forward.
The 30-year-old Molina is hitting .325 with 17 home runs and 62 RBI this year and is arguably the best defensive catcher in baseball. He stood his ground with Harrison bearing down on him, and he didn’t really have a chance to brace himself for impact.
Though vulnerable to impact, he still managed to hang onto the ball. Like a true leader, he put his body on the line just to preserve one run in this pivotal series.
Once Molina was able to clear his head a bit, it was nice to see everyone show some class. Situations like this can be taken the wrong way by both sides, especially in a big game, but everyone applauded Molina as he walked toward the Cardinals dugout.
Stay tuned as more information regarding Molina’s injury comes out in the next few days.
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After another great outing from Adam Wainwright, the St. Louis Cardinals fall again after bullpen struggles and defensive miscues continue to plague the team.
Wainwright put together a big night going seven innings giving up only two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts. By any stretch, that’s a great night. Not only was he pitching well, he got an early base hit and made a pair of key defensive plays.
It was clear early on that he was going to have to do it all.
The game fell apart only moments after Wainwright went to the bench.
Marc Rzepczynski came in and barely pulled one out before giving up two runs on three hits including a monster home run to Adam Dunn (21).
RHP Mitchell Boggs then came in to clean up the mess, but with no luck. Boggs got the final two outs of the eighth inning, but not before giving up a two-run home run to take the game to 6-1.
The only real glimmer of hope the bullpen showed was from Fernando Salas who faced only four batters in the ninth inning to get the final outs. Salas is beginning to get himself together and it couldn’t come at a more opportune time for this team.
The offense managed to string together hits on multiple occasions with the team batting .275 on the night, but were haunted by the double play three times.
Matt Holliday, Allen Craig, David Freese and Tyler Greene all went 2-for-4, but never managed to hold together a rally long enough to circle the bases.
Yadier Molina, who batted second for only the second time in his career, went 1-for-4 with a key double in the top of the third. It’s unclear as of yet whether Molina will spend much time that high in the lineup, but he’s hit well enough of late that he can handle the challenge.
At this point, it appears Manager Mike Matheny is doing everything in his power to get the faltering team back on track.
Wainwright (5-7) wound up taking the loss Tuesday night, but he deserved better. The frustration is clearly mounting with the team as they continue to slide further away from the top of the National League Central Division.
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After the loss of star slugger Albert Pujols to free agency over the winter, the Cardinals were seen as a team surely on the mend.
Yes, the team had just won its second World Series in its third appearance of the past decade, bettering Susan Lucci’s Emmy success ratio by a mile. And yes, the team retained its perennial Cy Young Award candidate Adam Wainwright. But still, many commentators saw the departure of ol’ No. 5 as the death knell of the Cardinals dynasty.
And they were completely wrong.
The St. Louis Cardinals have shot out of the gate this season, and despite the departure of Pujols, they haven’t missed a beat. At 16-10, they’re sitting pretty atop the NL Central. So what are the team’s keys to success? What’s in the Cardinals’ secret sauce?
When fans, analysts, and experts alike begin to determine a player’s value, defense is often second nature. It doesn’t jump off the back of a baseball card like Albert Pujols’ home run totals, Ryan Howard’s RBI totals, or Jose Reyes’ stolen bases. However, defense is a crucial part of the game of baseball. It makes great offensive players elite, and players who lack the offensive wherewithall a positive outlook on their game.
So, how do you go about ranking the best defensive players in baseball?
It’s no simple task. First, you must take into consideration that not every player plays the same position. A second baseman, for example, must make all the routine plays with ease, and provide good range to both his left and right side, and have the cunning to make up one half of a double play combination. An outfielder, on the other hand, must have a bevy of tools at his disposal, including range, skill with the glove, athleticism, and a strong arm. How do you rate one over the other?
A second challenge is the number of SABRmetric statistics that the baseball world has to offer, or more directly, their inaccuracy. For example, Juan Pierre’s Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) is one of the best in the game, but the man has no arm and couldn’t throw out a runner if his life depended on it. Combined with any normal statistics, like fielding percentage and errors, and it is hard to get an accurate measure, so those have been taken with a grain of salt.
Finally, the recipient of the Gold Glove Award will have absolutely no measure on a player’s positioning in the rankings. While it shows that a player has earned respect for his defense, the Gold Glove Award is voted on by a number of different players and coaches, and does not provide an accurate measure of a player’s defense. I think Derek Jeter, while a great defensive shortstop, winning the award this year over Elvis Andrus is a perfect example.
So how were the rankings calculated? I took into consideration a number of different things. For the first and maybe last time, stats did not play a large role in my rankings. While I looked at and evaluated things like fielding percentage, UZR, runs saved, and errors, I found that defense is hard to put on the back of a baseball card. One of the things that played a large part in my ranking was longevity. I didn’t exclude any young defensive wizards like Andrus, but veterans got a big thumbs up. I also looked at a player’s “tools,” so arm strength and range were also big factors.
So, without any more of a drawn out explanation, here are the 30 greatest defensive players in the MLB today.
For the tenth time since 2000, the Cardinals have Gold Glovers in their clubhouse.
This time, Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols paired up to make a defensive duo for the Redbirds.
For Molina, this award comes as no surprise. It’s his third straight, placing him on the verge of joining an exclusive club composed of Johnny Bench, Del Crandall, Charles Johnson, and former Cardinal Mike Matheny—the only National Leaguers to win the award more than three times.
“Winning the award for a third year means a lot to me,” said Molina. “It’s why I work hard every day to be one of the best at my position. I’ll continue to work hard to be the first to win four.”
With his most recent victory, the question has become not whether Molina is the premier defensive backstop in baseball, but by how much he outpaces his peers. This season, Molina’s 17 Zone Runs led all catchers, and was nearly double the total of runner-up Humberto Quintero. His 1.6 Defensive WAR also led all catchers by a wide margin, and Molina was fourth in the league in both categories.
Teammates have nothing but good things to say about the backstop.
“He’s unbelievable,” staff ace Chris Carpenter said of Molina, who has been his catcher since he won the Cy Young Award in 2005. “He’s like the guy in the book ‘The Blind Side.’ Everybody talks about the wide receivers and quarterbacks and running backs that make those great plays, but none of that happens if the lineman does not do his job. … Yadi is the unsung hero. He does so many things behind the scenes like calling pitches and blocking balls. It’s not just about throwing guys out. He’s an amazingly smart catcher, and it definitely gives me an advantage having him back there.”
What he really excels at, though, is shutting down the opponent’s running game. He led the league in caught stealing percentage once again this season, with 48.5% of runners caught.
Cubs fans will not soon forget the play Molina made against them last year. With a left-handed batter at the plate and a man on first, Molina deftly picked a breaking ball out of the dirt, wheeled around, and threw around the batter, picking the runner off at first.
Molina currently has 33 pick-offs through his first six full seasons. At that pace, he’ll shatter the record of 81 set by Ivan Rodriguez, and will challenge the major league record of 94, held by pitchers Andy Pettitte and Kenny Rogers.
This should come as no surprise to anyone who has watched Molina play. His laser-cannon arm, plus nearly telepathic connection with first baseman Albert Pujols, are reminiscent of Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, who, like Molina, is the most cerebral player in his sport.
Speaking of Pujols, this was his his second such award, and although he isn’t the revolutionary defensive wizard Molina is, he was still clearly the best player at his position. Albert led the league in putouts, double plays, fielding percentage, and range factor, and led all first basemen in assists.
He becomes the third Cardinal first baseman to win the award twice, joining defensive wizards Bill White and Keith Hernandez.
Pitcher Adam Wainwright and shortstop Brendan Ryan were also in contention for the award, but missed out to Bronson Arroyo and Troy Tulowitzki, respectively.
The winners were Arroyo, Molina, Pujols, Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips, Tulowitzki, Reds third baseman and former Cardinal Scott Rolen, and outfielders Shane Victorino, Michael Bourn, and Carlos Gonzalez.
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