I can guess the first thing that is coming to your mind after reading that. ‘Yadier Molina is just too slow to bat second,’ or something along those lines, right? Well, it’s not quite as clear cut as many would come to believe, especially for the St. Louis Cardinals.
First off, we have to ask the question “why do we want fast players hitting second?” As far as I can tell, the primary reason for this is to beat out double plays at first base, and to provide pressure for your three hitter.
He isn’t quite the walk drawer that Matt Carpenter is, but Yadi is a safe hitter who has good plate vision, and will find ways to get on and get hits without shooting himself in the foot very often.