Hall of Fame Debate: Yadier Molina

Few names come to mind when thinking of catchers ahead of Yadier Molina. Since he took over the starting role in 2005, the man has been an icon for St. Louis Cardinals Baseball. The career Red Bird has been to 9 all-star games, won 2 World Series, 8 Gold Gloves, 4 Platinum Gloves, and a Silver Slugger award. At age 35, retirement looms for the aging Molina. The question then arises: does the leader of the St. Louis Cardinals deserve a place in Cooperstown? I take a look at the numbers to answer that question.

Before breaking down the career of Molina, let's take a look at the catcher position in the Hall of Fame. 18 total catchers are in the Hall, with only Third Base having less (17). For the sake of consistency, I will only be looking at the careers of catcher that played the majority of their career during the live-ball era (1920-present). Excluded in this discussion are the careers of career Negro League catchers to once again remain consistent when comparing numbers. The players I will be using as comparisons are the following:

Johnny Bench, Yogi Berra, Roy Campanella, Gary Carter, Mickey Cochrane, Bill Dickey, Rick Ferrell, Carlton Fisk, Gabby Hartnett, Ernie Lombardi, Mike Piazza, Ivan Rodriguez, and Ray Schalk.

Excluded dead-ball era players are Louis Santop, Roger Bresnahan, and Buck Ewing.

Excluded Negro League players are Josh Gibson and Biz Mackey.

Also excluded from my own consideration are reputations, all-star game appearances, and admiration from fans. This determination will be made based on stats alone as to make it objective as possible. Jason Heyward's rain delay speech may have made him a hero in Chicago but it will not make him a hall of famer. So too with all-star appearances. Large market teams will naturally have more. While the best players due tend to make it, it is still based on fan voting numbers and therefore is not credible as a statistic.

Now to move on to Yadi and how he stacks up.

Yadier Molina has had a long, impactful offensive career for St. Louis. He has helped St. Louis capture 2 World Series titles, played in 9 All-Star games, won 8 Gold Gloves, 4 Platinum Gloves, and a Silver Slugger award.

The 35-year old carries career (1823 games) numbers of: .284 AVG

.336 OBP

.407 Slugging

1809 Hits

140 HR

830 RBI

635 Runs

59 Stolen Bases

Career oWAR of 25.7

His numbers are solid from the outside looking in. I compared these numbers to the catchers mentioned above and the offensive averages of all Hall of Fame catchers combined. The results, in places out of 14, are as follows:

Average: 8th

OBP: 12th

Slugging: 12th

Hits: 9th

HR: 11th

RBI: 12th

Runs: 11th

Stolen Bases: 6th

oWAR: 13th

As one can see, Molina finds himself on the low end of almost every major offensive category amongst Hall of Fame catchers of the live-ball era. Of course, He has the ability to move up the ranks as his career continues, barring a sudden retirement or career-ending injury. Molina's career will not be remembered for offense, though. His defense has always been his calling card, and he has the numbers to prove it.

The stats I have chosen to look at include: Errors (E), dWAR, Caught Stealing Percentage (CS%), and Fielding Percentage (F%). Many of the players here have played other positions, so the totals include only innings at the catcher position. For his career, Yadier has the following stats: E: 71

CS%: 41% F%: .995

dWAR: 23.8

Ranking those against Hall of Fame catchers, again out of 14, Yadi has committed the least errors, 10th in CS%, 3rd in dWAR, and 1st in F%. While the offensive numbers are lackluster for Molina, his defense has been and continues to be remarkable behind home plate, as he has the chance to become the best fielding catcher of all time with regards to fielding percentage.

One final stat to look into is JAWS. JAWS stands for Jaffe WAR Score system and revolves around sabermetrics. This is used to compare current players to Hall of Famers at the same position, as this article has. A player's JAWS stat is his peak 7-year total WAR (offense, defense, baserunning) averages. These 7 years do not have to be consecutive. The average JAWS of a Hall of Fame catcher is 43.5, with a 34.5 7-year peak WAR and a 53.5 career WAR. Molina carries a 38.4 career WAR, 28.7 7-year peak WAR, and a 33.5 JAWS. This is good enough for 26th all-time. For reference, Johnny Bench is the JAWS leader for catchers at 61.2. So what does all this mean? The offensive and defensive numbers combined show the makings of a Hall of Famer. While he does not rank well on offense, his defensive ranks are superb. His JAWS stat, which is a relatively modern invention, paints a different picture. Players ahead of Yadier Molina include people like Jorge Posada, Buster Posey, Joe Mauer, and Jason Kendall. All of these players grade much higher in the JAWS stat, a good indicator of Hall of Fame Credentials. Of the top-10 JAWS leaders for catchers, 9 are Hall of Famers, with the the only exception being the aforementioned Joe Mauer.

Do I think Molina will make the Hall of Fame? Yes I do. His leadership and presence behind the plate have been and continue to be staples of St. Louis Baseball for over a decade. Do I think Molina's stats get him in? No. His overall performances in offensive categories are lackluster and players such as Jorge Posada, Buster Posey, and Joe Mauer would get my vote before Molina if one was only looking at the numbers.