MAZATLÁN – Free-agent catcher Yadier Molina, who played the Creoles from Caguas, is 100 percent focused on the Puerto Rico representative, looking no further than winning the Caribbean Series title for now.
A recipient with a career worthy of immortality in the Cooperstown Hall of Fame, Molina is a free agent after 17 years in the Major Leagues, and for now, he’s not thinking about what might happen in the future.
“I’m focused on winning the Caribbean Series, I’m 100 percent with the team, I don’t think about anything but winning this tournament,” Molina said at a press conference after Criollos’ 5-1 defeat to Águilas Cibaeñas. of the Republic of Dominican.
“After the tournament is over, you sit down and think about what happens,” added the nine-time Golden Glove winner as a catcher in the National League with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Molina returned to a Caribbean Series after a 15-year absence, as he participated in the Carolina Giants in Venezuela in 2006. He was active in six games, hitting .188, with three hits in 18 at-bats,
“(Returning) feels really good to be here, happy to be in Mexico and to play for Puerto Rico, which has so much talent,” said Molina.
“I feel really happy to be here in Mazatlán, Mexico, with the beautiful Mexican fans and to play the baseball you dream of,” added the ninefold squad to the Major League All-Star Game.
Molina played in Puerto Rico this year, after not doing so since 2012, when he played in 14 games with Carolina, hitting 2 homeruns and batting in 10 runs.
“I am very proud to be here, very honored to be here, to share with this great team of the Criollos de Caguas who represent Puerto Rico. It really is something you always want to play in these types of events as a kid. “
The game against the Dominican Republic faced Molina Carlos Martínez, the “Tsunami”, of whom he has been catching more than 100 games with the Cardinals in the Major Leagues since 2013.
“I’ve played in the World Classic before and it’s really a very rare thing, you spend a lot of time with them, but you have to be professional and try to do the best for your team. That’s what you have to do and that’s what we did, ”he said.
Against Martinez, he struckout in the first inning, made short stops in the fourth and flied out in the eighth to the midfield caution strip that marks a distance of 120 meters in the Teodoro Mariscal Stadium.