Connect with us

Published

on

FOR NEARLY TWO DECADES, St. Louis Cardinals catching great Yadier Molina was a fixture in an organization known for churning out pitchers and throwing out runners. Over a Hall-of-Fame worthy career, Molina was the most respected player on his team every time he donned the uniform.

For the final seven years of that career, Molina shared the space behind home plate 19 times a season with a younger, brasher and extremely talented fellow catcher on the other side of one of baseball’s most heated rivalries, Willson Contreras.

Despite the intense rivalry between the Cardinals and Chicago Cubs, a mutual respect grew between the catchers.

“In 2021, we had a really nice talk at Busch Stadium,” Contreras told ESPN recently. “The advice he gave me was ‘Don’t change who you are.’ That’s what makes you really good. You have to know who you’re catching and understand those days you can play at 100 percent and those days where you can play at 80 percent.”

That interaction would stay with Contreras over the years, and particularly as both catchers approached the next chapter of their baseball careers. After 19 years in a Cardinals uniform, Molina had declared 2022 to be his last, while 300 miles north, Contreras was about to become a free agent for the first time.

When their teams met near the end of last season, Contreras and Molina met again, and Molina brought a gift — one that might have changed the course of Contreras’ career. “When the season ended, Yadi gave me a jersey,” Contreras said with a smile this spring. “I put it on, and I really liked the fit.”

The timing lined up perfectly, but the Cardinals weren’t going to take the decision on who followed Molina lightly. Ultimately, it was Contreras’ own words, after getting career advice directly from the St. Louis icon, that helped make the decision for them.

“It was two-pronged,” president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said of their conversation with Contreras. “One, ‘We like you as a player, so be you.’ But No. 2, ‘Do you understand what you’re stepping into?’ The interesting way of how he answered it — and it caught [manager Oliver Marmol] and I — was he was welcoming that. There’s a lot of people that prefer not to have to be that guy. In Willson’s case, it shows you, he does have self-confidence.”

That swagger was earned. At the time of his first free agency, Contreras had already won a World Series, produced four 20-home run seasons and appeared in three All-Star Games. The mindset and résumé won the Cardinals over, and on Dec. 7, 2022, Contreras agreed to a five-year, $87.5 contract to take over catching duties for Molina in St. Louis.

“I wouldn’t call it replacing him,” Contreras said. “I would say I’m succeeding the best catcher in the game over the last two decades.”


WHEN IT COMES to replacing a legend, it’s much easier to say all the right things in the offseason than to do it on the field from April through October. According to others who have been tasked with following a franchise icon, the pressure that comes from player, fan and media expectations can become difficult to manage.

Like Contreras in St. Louis, Matt Olson had previous major league success when he took over at first base in Atlanta after Freddie Freeman left for the Los Angeles Dodgers last season. The new Braves first baseman hit 34 home runs and compiled a .802 OPS in 2022 after being traded by the Oakland Athletics.

“I’ve been in that situation, but I had my own career going in,” Olson said. “It can be easy to put unneeded pressure on yourself. You can’t let yourself do that. If you’re confident, it won’t be a huge factor. Once you transition to your new team, then you can get back to being yourself.”

Current Cubs third baseman Patrick Wisdom knows that the task of replacing an icon while still trying to establish yourself as a young player can be exponentially tougher. His first season as a Texas Ranger, in 2019, was the organization’s first after future Hall of Famer Adrian Beltre retired.

“There’s a lot to live up to, for sure,” Wisdom said. “I felt the weight of that. It was definitely a huge weight on my shoulders. …When you have those shoes to fill, it becomes pretty big.

“You have to stay true to the player who you are.”

Wisdom hit just .154 during his brief time in Texas — which makes what Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena was able to do in the first season following Carlos Correa‘s seven-year run in Houston even more impressive.

As a rookie, Pena replaced a two-time All-Star, former Rookie of the Year and World Series champ — and was named MVP of both the ALCS and in a World Series win of his own. He also won the Gold Glove at shortstop — the same award Correa had won as an Astro in 2021.

“I just didn’t look at it that way,” Pena said. “I just saw it as I’m going to be the shortstop for the Houston Astros. The goal was just to come in, do my job and win baseball games.

“Be yourself. Let everything else take care of itself.”

While it won’t take a trophy case full of new hardware like Pena collected for Contreras’ first season with the Cardinals to be deemed a success, taking the shortstop’s advice — which sounds a lot like the wisdom he got from Molina himself — could be the key to unlocking the best version of himself in his new home.

“I like a challenge,” Contreras said. “He left huge shoes to fill. The way I look at it, I have to be myself. It’s impossible for me to think I’m the second Molina.”


FROM THE OPPOSING DUGOUT, the Cardinals had seen Contreras as a catcher who played with his emotions on display and enjoyed getting under the skin of his opponent — the kind of player who rival teams hated to face, but teammates loved to have on their side. In fact, his style reminded some in the St. Louis organization of another star catcher — Molina.

“They both are ultracompetitive and you don’t want to cross them,” Marmol said. “That’s a great trait to have as a catcher. They both put a little bit of fear into the opposition and when we were looking to fill that position, it was a matter of finding someone that could offensively produce but also someone that had that competitive nature that will come across and kill you. He has a little of that in him.”

Despite the similarities, the odds of Contreras following Molina in St. Louis seemed slim. First, the catcher had to be sure that the door on a return to the Cubs was shut.

After all, he had first burst onto the scene during the team’s 2016 title run — playing alongside veteran catchers Miguel Montero and his eventual manager, David Ross — and the converted infielder quickly became a fan favorite at Wrigley Field thanks to a rocket arm, quick bat and an outwardly emotional style.

But this offseason, the front office had to make a decision on a player who had been with the organization since 2009, when he was signed as a 17-year-old. His last contract offer had come in 2018 for about $35 million over six years with two options, which could grow the deal to $64 million over eight — but the team clearly wasn’t prioritizing a long-term deal during his final four years in Chicago.

“He did great things for the organization. I’m really happy for him”. Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said about not pursuing a long-term contract this offseason. “I’m not going to say anything about why not. I don’t think it serves anyone.”

Contreras, though, wanted to stay and expressed that to both his manager and pitching coach midway through the 2022 season.

“I got to the ballpark early and went to the manager’s office,” Contreras recalled. “I said ‘Hey, I think this is where I deserve to be. I want to be here. I want to be a guy that helps the younger guys get to the big leagues and guide them the right way.’

“Then I went to [pitching coach] Tommy [Hottovy] and I said the same thing. Tommy got emotional because I said it with my heart. That was it. I said that and the year went on and I was never approached by anyone. I was hoping for that but it was almost like when they saw me, they were looking in a different direction.”

With a younger team, they wanted a clean break, and that is when a rival team emerged.

“I was intrigued by the Cardinals because I heard a lot of good stuff,” Contreras said. “The chances of me coming back to the Cubs was like 10 percent at that time [late in 2022].”

Contreras met with the Cardinals in Orlando, Florida, early in the offseason, and St. Louis became convinced that Contreras’ intensity would be a positive addition to the team’s clubhouse.

“Meeting him made a difference,” Marmol said. “You see someone across the diamond and sometimes you get a different impression.”

By the end of the winter meetings, Contreras’ move across the National League Central was complete — and even the newest Cardinal was surprised by the fallout.

“To be honest, when I was on the other side [with the Cubs], I didn’t know it was this big,” Contreras said. “When I signed, that’s when I noticed how big the rivalry is because I read some things on the internet about Cubs fans towards me, which is really tough to read. But at the same time, it’s hard to make everyone happy.”

Since signing, Contreras has inflamed the rivalry — calling the Cardinals “a better organization” than the Cubs — but those that know him claim he’s trying to endear himself to his new team more than criticize his old franchise.

“I want the fans to know I did the best to remain with the Cubs,” Contreras said. “I understand they aren’t going to like me when I play against them but I’m always going to be there for them.”

While Cubs fans are still coming to terms with seeing Contreras in a different uniform, his new franchise is focused on the player they gained — and not who he is trying to replace.

“The Cardinals signed him to be Willson. Not Yadi or anyone else,” Mozeliak said.” He’s a darn good player himself.”

Continue Reading

Sports

Stanton won’t blame ailing elbows on torpedo bats

Published

on

By

Stanton won't blame ailing elbows on torpedo bats

NEW YORK — Giancarlo Stanton, one of the first known adopters of the torpedo bat, declined Tuesday to say whether he believes using it last season caused the tendon ailments in both elbows that forced him to begin this season on the injured list.

Last month, Stanton alluded to “bat adjustments” he made last season as a possible reason for the epicondylitis, commonly known as tennis elbow, he’s dealing with.

“You’re not going to get the story you’re looking for,” Stanton said. “So, if that’s what you guys want, that ain’t going to happen.”

Stanton said he will continue using the torpedo bat when he returns from injury. The 35-year-old New York Yankees slugger, who has undergone multiple rounds of platelet-rich plasma injections to treat his elbows, shared during spring training that season-ending surgery on both elbows was a possibility. But he has progressed enough to recently begin hitting off a Trajekt — a pitching robot that simulates any pitcher’s windup, arm angle and arsenal. However, he still wouldn’t define his return as “close.”

He said he will first have to go on a minor league rehab assignment at an unknown date for an unknown period. It won’t start in the next week, he added.

“This is very unique,” Stanton said. “I definitely haven’t missed a full spring before. So, it just depends on my timing, really, how fast I get to feel comfortable in the box versus live pitching.”

While the craze of the torpedo bat (also known as the bowling pin bat) has swept the baseball world since it was revealed Saturday — while the Yankees were blasting nine home runs against the Milwaukee Brewers — that a few members of the Yankees were using one, the modified bat already had quietly spread throughout the majors in 2024. Both Stanton and former Yankees catcher Jose Trevino, now with the Cincinnati Reds, were among players who used the bats last season after being introduced to the concept by Aaron Leanhardt, an MIT-educated physicist and former minor league hitting coordinator for the organization.

Anthony Volpe, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt and Austin Wells were among the Yankees who used torpedo bats during their season-opening sweep of the Brewers.

Stanton explained he has changed bats before. He said he has usually adjusted the length. Sometimes, he opts for lighter bats at the end of the long season. In the past, when knuckleballers were more common in the majors, he’d opt for heavier lumber.

Last year, he said he simply chose his usual bat but with a different barrel after experimenting with a few models.

“I mean, it makes a lot of sense,” Stanton said. “But it’s, like, why hasn’t anyone thought of it in 100-plus years? So, it’s explained simply and then you try it and as long as it’s comfortable in your hands [it works]. We’re creatures of habit, so the bat’s got to feel kind of like a glove or an extension of your arm.”

Stanton went on to lead the majors with an average bat velocity of 81.2 mph — nearly 3 mph ahead of the competition. He had a rebound, but not spectacular, regular season in which he batted .233 with 27 home runs and a .773 OPS before clubbing seven home runs in 14 playoff games.

“It’s not like [it was] unreal all of a sudden for me,” Stanton said.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone described the torpedo bats “as the evolution of equipment” comparable to getting fitted for new golf clubs. He said the organization is not pushing players to use them and insisted the science is more complicated than just picking a bat with a different barrel.

“There’s a lot more to it than, ‘I’ll take the torpedo bat on the shelf over there — 34 [inches], 32 [ounces],'” Boone said. “Our guys are way more invested in it than that. And really personalized, really work with our players in creating this stuff. But it’s equipment evolving.”

As players around the majors order torpedo bats in droves after the Yankees’ barrage over the weekend — they clubbed a record-tying 13 homers in two games against the Brewers — Boone alluded to the notion that, though everyone is aware of the concept, not every organization can optimize its usage.

“You’re trying to just, where you can on the margins, move the needle a little bit,” Boone said. “And that’s really all you’re going to do. I don’t think this is some revelation to where we’re going to be; it’s not related to the weekend that we had, for example. Like, I don’t think it’s that. Maybe in some cases, for some players, it may help them incrementally. That’s how I view it.”

Continue Reading

Sports

Rangers’ Eovaldi gets season’s 1st complete game

Published

on

By

Rangers' Eovaldi gets season's 1st complete game

CINCINNATI — Nathan Eovaldi pitched a four-hitter for the majors’ first complete game of the season, and the Texas Rangers blanked the Cincinnati Reds 1-0 on Tuesday night.

Eovaldi struck out eight and walked none in his fifth career complete game. The right-hander threw 99 pitches, 70 for strikes.

It was Eovaldi’s first shutout since April 29, 2023, against the Yankees and just the third of his career. He became the first Ranger with multiple career shutouts with no walks in the past 30 seasons, according to ESPN Research.

“I feel like, by the fifth or sixth inning, that my pitch count was down, and I feel like we had a really good game plan going into it,” Eovaldi said in his on-field postgame interview on Victory+. “I thought [Texas catcher Kyle Higashioka] called a great game. We were on the same page throughout the entire game.”

In the first inning, Wyatt Langford homered for Texas against Carson Spiers (0-1), and that proved to be all Eovaldi needed. A day after Cincinnati collected 14 hits in a 14-3 victory in the series opener, Eovaldi (1-0) silenced the lineup.

“We needed it, these bats are still quiet,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said of his starter’s outing. “It took a well-pitched game like that. What a game.”

The Reds put the tying run on second with two out in the ninth, but Eovaldi retired Elly De La Cruz on a grounder to first.

“He’s as good as I have seen as far as a pitcher performing under pressure,” Bochy said. “He is so good. He’s a pro out there. He wants to be out there.”

Eovaldi retired his first 12 batters, including five straight strikeouts during one stretch. Gavin Lux hit a leadoff single in the fifth for Cincinnati’s first baserunner.

“I think it was the first-pitch strikes,” Eovaldi said, when asked what made him so efficient. “But also, the off-speed pitches. I was able to get some quick outs, and I didn’t really have many deep counts. … And not walking guys helps.”

Spiers gave up three hits in six innings in his season debut. He struck out five and walked two for the Reds, who fell to 2-3.

The Rangers moved to 4-2, and Langford has been at the center of it all. He now has two home runs in six games to begin the season. In 2024, it took him until the 29th game of the season to homer for the first time. Langford hit 16 homers in 134 games last season during his rookie year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

Source: USC flips Ducks’ Topui, No. 3 DT in 2026

Published

on

By

Source: USC flips Ducks' Topui, No. 3 DT in 2026

USC secured the commitment of former Oregon defensive tackle pledge Tomuhini Topui on Tuesday, a source told ESPN, handing the Trojans their latest recruiting victory in the 2026 cycle over the Big Ten rival Ducks.

Topui, ESPN’s No. 3 defensive tackle and No. 72 overall recruit in the 2026 class, spent five and half months committed to Oregon before pulling his pledge from the program on March 27. Topui attended USC’s initial spring camp practice that afternoon, and seven days later the 6-foot-4, 295-pound defender gave the Trojans his pledge to become the sixth ESPN 300 defender in the program’s 2026 class.

Topui’s commitment gives USC its 10th ESPN 300 pledge this cycle — more than any other program nationally — and pulls a fourth top-100 recruit into the impressive defensive class the Trojans are building this spring. Alongside Topui, USC’s defensive class includes in-state cornerbacks R.J. Sermons (No. 26 in ESPN Junior 300) and Brandon Lockhart (No. 77); four-star outside linebacker Xavier Griffin (No. 27) out of Gainesville, Georgia; and two more defensive line pledges between Jaimeon Winfield (No. 143) and Simote Katoanga (No. 174).

The Trojans are working to reestablish their local recruiting presence in the 2026 class under newly hired general manager Chad Bowden. Topui not only gives the Trojans their 11th in-state commit in the cycle, but his pledge represents a potentially important step toward revamping the program’s pipeline to perennial local powerhouse Mater Dei High School, too.

Topui will enter his senior season this fall at Mater Dei, the program that has produced a long line of USC stars including Matt Leinart, Matt Barkley and Amon-Ra St. Brown. However, if Topui ultimately signs with the program later this year, he’ll mark the Trojans’ first Mater Dei signee since the 2022 cycle, when USC pulled three top-300 prospects — Domani Jackson, Raleek Brown and C.J. Williams — from the high school program based in Santa Ana, California.

Topui’s flip to the Trojans also adds another layer to a recruiting rivalry rekindling between USC and Oregon in the 2026 cycle.

Tuesday’s commitment comes less than two months after coach Lincoln Riley and the Trojans flipped four-star Oregon quarterback pledge Jonas Williams, ESPN’s No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in 2026. USC is expected to continue targeting several Ducks commits this spring, including four-star offensive tackle Kodi Greene, another top prospect out of Mater Dei.

Continue Reading

Trending