The youngest in a trio of brother backstops, Yadier Molina has already far surpassed the career achievements of his two elder siblings, Bengie and Jose.
The Cardinals catcher, who has been named to five consecutive All-Star games, already has two World Series rings to his credit, and he’ll be looking to add a third this week against a Red Sox team that knows just how good he really is.
“Professional, a true professional,” David Ross said of his catching counterpart on Monday, according to ESPN.com. “Probably the best catcher I’ve ever seen. From an outsider’s perspective, seems to be a leader, he’s in the MVP race every year. He’s one of the faces of the franchise. You can tell how much he and his manager [Mike Matheny] communicate. They talk. His manager, being an ex-catcher himself and a really good one, you can tell they have a really good relationship.
“To me, he’s a pro’s pro. Goes about his business, doesn’t show anybody up, roots for his teammates. You can tell he’s teaching as well as competing. He’s the example of what a true professional catcher should be.”
Molina, who’s spent his entire career in St. Louis, has been arguably the best catcher in baseball this season. The 31-year-old set career highs in doubles (44), RBIs (80) and batting average (.319), while also throwing out 43 percent of would-be base stealers from behind the plate.
That arm will be tested against the Red Sox, who were successful on 123 of 147Â of stolen-base attempts during the regular season (87 percent) and 11 of 13 in the playoffs.
