3 highlights from Yadier Molina’s pitching debut

With an 18-0 lead in the ninth inning, the St. Louis Cardinals gave Yadier Molina the field in what may be his final season.

The cards had plenty of room for error Sunday afternoon against the Pittsburgh Pirates. With an 18-0 lead after the rain, Oliver Marmol preferred not to waste any more of his pitching staff in a game they were sure to win.

So he pitched a positional player – but not just any positional player. Yadier Molina will be there in what is likely to be his last season threw the last innings by PNC Park.

Yadi’s efforts were far from perfect, but they were Albert Pujols before him he had some fun with it.

Cardinals Highlights: Albert Pujols warms up Yadier Molina

Not only did Molina pitch an inning of work, he threw Pujols down his warm-ups! In a sight all Cardinals fans are sure to love, Pujols went into tuck position and helped his good friend stretch his arm.

https://mobile.twitter.com/Cardinals/status/1528451284579270658

Neither of them looked too comfortable given that Yadi is usually behind home plate and Pujols doesn’t spend all that much time on the field these days. Nonetheless, it’s something the two will never forget from their last season together.

Cardinals highlights: Albert Pujols trolls Yadier Molina to a home run

Molina gave up two homers in the inning, one against Yoshi Tsutsugo. Yoshi took Yadi over the Clemente Wall despite the wind blowing in from right field.

At the end of the clip, Pujols and his Cards’ teammates are trolling Molina, who can’t help but smile as Yoshi circles the bases. His statline might not have been pretty, but in the end Molina got the three outs she needed.

Cardinals Highlights: Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols share the same ERA

Both Molina and Pujols gave up two homers and four runs total on their pitching debuts. This equates to a 36.00 ERA. It’s safe to say they made the right choice by avoiding a career as a professional pitcher.

In fact, I’m not so sure why Pujols was so busy trolling Molina in the first place.