Throughout his Hall of Fame career with the St. Louis Cardinals, Yadier Molina has been regarded as among the best defensive catchers in the game. He’s super reliable behind the plate and notoriously good at throwing out would-be base stealers.
While the league average for caught-stealing percentage is usually around 30 percent, Molina has thrown out 40 percent of base stealers in his career. And in his younger days, he posted seasons in the 50 and 60-percent range.
His arm is still so good that the Brewers’ Kolten Wong had to take a souvenir for himself after successfully stealing a bag against Molina. Like, Wong literally stole the base.
.@KoltenWong literally stole this base off of Yadi 😂 pic.twitter.com/VQ2yBCpPEM
— MLB (@MLB) August 19, 2021
During the eighth inning of the Brewers’ 6-4 win on Wednesday, Wong got himself a good jump on a breaking ball and took off for second base. The call was close enough that the Cardinals challenged the play.
But as the safe call was being reviewed, the former Cardinals teammates could be seen joking with each other from second and home. When the umpiring crew came back with the safe ruling, Wong acted like he was going to take the base with him — Rickey Henderson style.
He wasn’t joking, though. When the game was over, Wong actually stole the base.
He took the bag out and carried it with him to the clubhouse. After all, Wong spent eight seasons watching Molina’s arm in action. He knew exactly how difficult it was to steal off him.
Might as well take the bag as a trophy.
