The St. Louis Cardinals, one of the prestigious Major League teams, recorded only 71 wins and 91 losses (a winning percentage of .435) this year, falling to 5th place and last place in the National League (NL) Central Division. The team that won the district championship last year with 93 wins and 69 losses (a winning percentage of .574) fell from the district championship team to last place in just one year.
The collapse of the mound was decisive. The team's ERA fell from 10th last year (3.79) to 24th this year (4.79). The pitchers' poor performance was disappointing, and they were unable to fill the void left by the retirement of Yadier Molina (41), who had been the regular starting catcher. Catcher Wilson Contreras, a free agent recruit, had problems working with pitchers early in the season and played only as a designated hitter for a while.
Accordingly, St. Louis is exploring the possibility of Molina's return. There are rumors that he will return as a coach rather than a player.
Martin Kilcoyne of American local broadcaster 'FOX-2 St. Louis' said on the 14th (Korean time), "Molina may join the St. Louis coaching staff next season. He said, “Both sides had conversations about this,” and that it is unknown whether a final agreement will be reached.
Molina is a leading catcher in the major leagues and is certain to enter the Hall of Fame. A native of Puerto Rico, he debuted in St. Louis in 2004 and played as a one-club man for 19 seasons until 2022.
In his 2,224 career games, Molina, who has a batting average of . His defensive skills were outstanding enough to record a career stealing percentage of .400.
Above all, he earned the trust of pitchers with his extraordinary ability to lead pitchers, and was known as the spiritual pillar of the St. Louis team. As the St. Louis mound collapsed after a year, Molina's presence became even more evident.
He is a player with great leadership skills, so it is expected that he will have a significant positive effect on St. Louis if he joins as a coach. Even when Contreras had difficulty adjusting to the team last May, Molina did not spare encouragement and advice through a video call. Molinara, who has great affection for St. Louis, is expected to help rebuild the collapsed team.
Molina, who retired as a player at the end of last year's season, also has 'manager experience'. He served as the head coach of his home country, Puerto Rico, and led the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in March of this year. In the first round against Israel, they won a perfect cold game in the 8th inning, playing the WBC's first unofficial perfect game, and advanced to the second round as second place in 'Group D of Death', but were eliminated after losing 4-5 to Mexico in the quarterfinals. did. /waw@osen.co.kr