St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina (4) reacts after striking out Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Isaac Paredes (not pictured) during the 8th inning at Tropicana Field. Dave Nelson-USA TODAY Sports

Cardinals C Yadier Molina brings the heat in latest pitching appearance

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Grey Papke | Last updated 6/9/22

The St. Louis Cardinals have been one of the teams to frequently use position players as pitchers in blowouts, and they did so again in amusing fashion on Wednesday.

Catcher Yadier Molina took the mound in the 8th inning Wednesday with the Cardinals trailing the Rays 11-3. The appearance quickly went viral, including a pair of pitches that somehow got Isaac Paredes off balance enough for a swinging three-pitch strikeout.

Give Yadi the Cy Young @Starting9 pic.twitter.com/CdnJOiahnc

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) June 9, 2022

Talk about changing speeds. The first two pitches didn’t even register on the broadcast radar gun, though Statcast data clocked them at 49 and 51 mph, respectively. Molina then dialed it up to 76 to get the strikeout.

Molina allowed two hits, but did not give up a run. That’s a much better showing than he offered in his pitching debut last month, so he’s clearly learning.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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