ST. LOUIS — He may be the second-oldest player in the National League (behind only his teammate Adam Wainwright), but Yadier Molina seems to have found the fountain of youth.
While most of the rest of the Cardinals' lineup has struggled so far in 2021, the veteran catcher is off to one of the best starts of his career.
Coming into Monday, Molina is first among all catchers in baseball in hits, RBI, average, slugging percentage and OPS. He's fourth in home runs and doubles, third in on-base percentage and is tied for third in games played.
He also leads the Cardinals in every conceivable offensive category other than hits (where Tommy Edman has him by one).
Molina is tied for the team lead in homers with four, but he's pretty sure Nolan Arenado is going to have that category to himself soon
"I'm just trying to get good at-bats. I'm not thinking about anything else other than helping the team," Molina said during the team's series against the Phillies. "I don't think I'm going to catch up now. Nolan's gonna have a great streak now and hit a lot of homers."
Molina recently played his 2,000th game as a catcher for the Cardinals. He was the first player to ever do that for one franchise. And although he'll turn 39 in July, he looks like he has no plans on slowing down, appearing in all but one of the Cardinals' 15 games so far this season.
"I got some more confidence. I believe in myself," Molina said. "The preparation I did in the offseason was great. I feel really good. I feel healthy."
As for the power output so far this season?
"Can you tell right here," Molina said laughing and pointing to his muscles.