ST. LOUIS – For the first time since retiring three years ago, Yadier Molina stepped back into the St. Louis Cardinals dugout at Busch Stadium in uniform. This time around, the longtime catcher returns as a guest coach.
Molina will serve a guest coach for the first two games of the Cardinals’ home series against the Chicago Cubs, and could possibly do so later again this season.
The nine-time Gold Glove winner and two-time World Series champion is mostly around for moral support, but he is also helping catchers and pitchers refine their game plans as the Cardinals navigate the finals months of the 2025 season. Molina himself embraced the opportunity and received a huge ovation when he exchanged the lineup card with the umpires on Friday.
Molina met with media members ahead of Friday’s game to discuss his return to St. Lousi and his future in baseball. These were among his remarks:
“To be back home, this is great. Nineteen years of memories. We got two World Series. I mean, this is the best town. Being part of this obviously, there’s a lot of good memories here.”
“I feel happy right now to be back home. It feels great to watch and spend time with the players and coaches and a night with the fans. It’s going to be a great experience.”
“To be back in St. Louis, it means a lot to me. Especially this town cares about me and my family. It’s going to be a great night for me especially and I’m looking forward to that.”
“It was great when Oli invited me. Watch some baseball and try to help the team get better. We got some young guys who really need some experience, experience that I can bring them. I’m happy to help.”
“The idea is to come over here to help the catchers, try to give some advice and make them better. Just to be here and spend time with them.”
“We are there. I mean, we got the talent. I’m a fan of this team. I feel like we play a small game really good, we run the bases really good and the pitchers need to be more stable.”
“As a player, you know how hard this game is. It’s going to go up and down. To come over here, I want to keep doing it, keep coaching, keep grinding and that’s what I’m doing.”
“I love baseball. I love being around. This is my passion here.”
Molina also reiterated he wants to manage and coach at the big-league level at some point. He says the timing has to be right, and he is at least waiting for his son to finish up high school. “That’s my plan in the future. I’m concentrating on my family right now. They deserve that. In the future, we’d love to coach.”
OLI MARMOL
Manager Oli Marmol said of Molina’s return: “Just being able to have him in the building and talk through stuff is always fun. I enjoy the heck out of it. This is a guy that treated me like gold during the years I was a first base coach and bench coach, and I got to manage him in 2022 and enjoyed the heck out of the relationship. To have him here, he’s going to be in town for two days, not inviting him to sit next to me in the dugout would ‘ve been a huge miss.
YOHEL POZO
Catcher Yohel Pozo said of Molina’s return: “I always wanted to meet him of course. He’s my favorite player since I was young. Now that I have him here, it’s like, ‘Oh my god.’ It’s a dream come true. Having him here, talking to him a little bit, the way he talks, the way he expresses things is really nice.”
PEDRO PAGES
Catcher Pedro Pages said via FanDuel Sports Network Midwest of Molina after Friday’s game: “Man, he’s great. I go to work with him in spring training a lot over the years. He’s always in the game, he’s always telling me stuff, trying to help me out before the game, just having him in the dugout is a great presence to have. In my opinion, the best to ever do it. Having him back and helping me out throughout the game is a big thing.”