Yadier M0lina is a 35-year-old who’s been catching for 14 years. But Cardinals manager threw the beloved Molina under the bus in an interview, saying he wants to give rookie catcher Carson Kelly more playing time while implying that Molina is old and tired.
Here’s what Matheny told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
“Yadi’s caught a lot,” Matheny said. “Yesterday, just kind of watching him go around the bases, too, you could tell that he’s, you know…” Matheny changed course mid-sentence, but he was implying that Molina is tired.
Matheny also added, “When you bring a player like (Kelly) in, we’re going to have to keep him engaged if he’s going to be able to contribute like he needs to.”
On Friday, Molina responded on Instagram, letting the world know he is not actually tired and throwing shade at his manager in the process:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXGHPiUh9vj/
“I train to play 174 games because that’s what it takes to be Champion, I’m not tired and the day I feel tired I’ll express it myself. #misinforming”
Molina has played in 86 of 102 games so far this season batting .275/.307/.414. He leads the National League catchers with 85 starts and 738 innings behind the plate.
The Cardinals obviously don’t want any distractions as they are two games under .500 and 4.5 games out of the playoffs. We’ll see if Molina and Matheny can work this situation out. But Matheny should be careful about alienating fan favorites, especially when you’re not winning a ton of games.
