Yadier Molina continuing transition from player to manager

MIAMI, FL—Currently, Puerto Rico's Criollos de Caguas find themselves with a 3-1 record in the 2024 Caribbean Series. The most famous person on the team isn't an active player: it's former St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina, who is serving as manager.

For Molina, this is his third managerial experience. First, leading Puerto Rico in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, then going to the Puerto Rican Winter League, and now, the Caribbean Series.

In the WBC, Molina led Puerto Rico to the quarterfinals where they fell to México. They had the third-best pitching staff by ERA and 10th-best offense in terms of OPS amongst all teams that participated in the classic.

His Caribbean Series group lacks offensive star power. They only rank sixth out of seven teams in OPS, but Molina is getting contributions from all parts of his lineup, creating a lot of opportunities to score. The bottom of the order has been dominant, with a 1.267 OPS from the No. 7 spot, a .833 OPS from the No. 8 spot and a .857 OPS from the No. 9 spot.

"Well, we offensively have confidence in everybody," said Molina after the game. "We have a lineup that has a very good offense. We have Emmanuel Rivera batting eighth, I mean, I feel good with this lineup right now."

As for the pitching, starter Daryl Thompson struggled in Saturday’s contest against the Dominican Republic, but even including that, the staff has combined for a 2.25 ERA to lead the tournament.

At 41 years old, Molina has the chance to possibly make the jump to the MLB level soon with his experience and what he can provide in terms of knowledge of the game.

Puerto Rico catcher/first baseman J.C. Escarra praised his current manager. "One of the great minds in catching and all-time," said Escarra. "I stay asking questions every day."

Center fielder Johneshwy Fargas said he's "super confident that we have his name on our team."

"That's been super important for us," added Fargas. "Just super confident with him out there as our manager."

One of the biggest praises for Yadier Molina came from Venezuela's manager, Ozzie Guillén.

"The accolades are there," said Guillén. "With the career that he has had, I think that Yadier was a manager when he wasn't a manager—when he was playing. He knows a lot about baseball. I think that he is preparing himself well...I think that he is showing it [in the Caribbean Series] his ability and knowledge of the game."

Molina and his ballclub are back at it on Monday at 8:30 p.m. to play against Panamá, the only undefeated team left in the Caribbean Series (3-0 record).