page_title: Yadier Molina
section_title: 2015
hierarchical_section_title: Yadier Molina / St. Louis Cardinals (2004–present) / 2015
caption_attribution_description: English: Cardinals catcher Yadi Molina
context_page_description: Yadier Benjamin Molina, nicknamed "Yadi", is a Puerto Rican professional baseball catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball. He has played his entire 17-year major league career with the Cardinals since his debut on June 3, 2004, and also for the Puerto Rican national team in four World Baseball Classic tournaments. Widely considered one of the greatest defensive catchers of all time, Molina is the recipient of a number of accolades, including nine Rawlings Gold Gloves and six Fielding Bible Awards. A two-time World Series champion, he is a paramount figure in ten Cardinals playoff appearances and four National League pennants, and a two-time silver medalist with Puerto Rico. Molina bats and throws right-handed, stands 5 feet 11 inches tall, and weighs 205 pounds.
  Molina ranks second all-time among catchers with 130 Defensive Runs Saved, and first among active catchers with 845 assists, 40.21% of runners caught stealing which is 213 all-time, and 55 pickoffs. He also ranks in the top 70 among catchers in history in each of fielding percentage, games played, double plays turned, and assists.
context_section_description: With his 11th consecutive Opening Day start on April 5, 2015, against the Cubs, Molina became the first catcher in club history to achieve this feat. On May 10 against the Pirates, he was on the dubious end of a piece of MLB history: lining out into the first "4–5–4" triple play in MLB history. Second baseman Neil Walker caught his line drive with two runners on, then threw to third baseman Jung-ho Kang to double up Jhonny Peralta for the second out. Kang briefly pirouetted the ball in his hand, albeit confused, but threw back to Walker to tag Jason Heyward for the third out. Molina's first home run of the season and first in 95 games occurred against the Minnesota Twins on June 15; his previous home run dated back to June 27, 2014.
  On July 7, he was selected to his seventh consecutive All-Star Game, played at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. In the Reds' clubhouse for the All-Star Game, Molina shared a locker with Reds' second baseman Brandon Phillips. Since the brawl between the Cardinals and Reds in 2010, the two mended their schism, and Molina has a photograph of their families together. When informed whose locker he was using, Molina replied, "This is Phillips' locker? How about that? I'll have to write something to him." While the pregame roster introductions were made, Reds fans booed all six Cardinals players who were selected, and even former Cardinal Albert Pujols. When Molina was introduced, he smiled and turned and pointed his thumbs toward the back of his jersey. Pujols provided levity when he then joined in the booing. After the game, Molina remarked to reporters, "when you spend 12 years coming to Cincinnati and you beat them so many times, they’re going to boo you." In his career to that point, he hit .319 with a .352 on-base percentage and .500 slugging percentage in 270 career at-bats at Great American Ball Park.
  Hitting his first triple in more than four years and 2,000 at bats, with the bases loaded, Molina provided the decisive run in a 3–2 outcome against the Chicago White Sox on July 22. In the annual Baseball America Toolbox Awards, managers and coaches around the National League rated Molina as both the "Best hit and run artist" and "Best defensive catcher" in the NL. His 100th career home run was well-timed, becoming the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning at Busch Stadium on August 19 in a 4–3 win over San Francisco. After sustaining an injury to his left thumb during a September 20 game against the Cubs, an MRI revealed a partial ligament tear, preventing him from playing. Molina won his eighth consecutive Gold Glove Award and fourth Platinum Glove Award in 2015. In December, it was revealed that Molina had a second surgery on his left thumb, pushing his return to late in 2016 spring training. He was winner of the Darryl Kile Good Guy Award.
caption: Yadi fist bumps the temporary catcher in 2016
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