MiLB Pitcher of the Day: Mason Molina and the Springfield Pitching Staff
The Cardinal Chronicle
MiLB Pitcher of the Day: Mason Molina and the Springfield Pitching Staff
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
The Springfield pitching staff gets the honor.
Mason Molina gets the headline.
Molina and the Cardinals’ staff are The Cardinal Chronicle’s Minor League Pitcher of the Day after Springfield shut out the Northwest Arkansas Naturals 4-0 on Saturday night at Route 66 Stadium.
This was the cleanest pitching performance in the Cardinals’ full-season system.
Springfield put nine zeroes on the board and controlled the game from the mound. It was a staff shutout, and that deserves recognition. But the reason the night belonged to Springfield started with Molina.
The left-hander was outstanding.
Molina worked 6.2 scoreless innings, allowing five hits while walking two and striking out six. He gave Springfield length, control and the kind of steady presence that takes pressure off everyone else.
That is a real start.
Not a flash start.
Not a three-inning tease.
A real start.
Molina carried the game into the seventh inning and gave the Cardinals every chance to play from in front. Springfield’s offense gave him enough support, scoring once in the fourth, once in the sixth and twice in the eighth, but the pitching staff made those runs feel larger than they were.
That is what good pitching does.
It changes the math of the game.
Four runs become plenty when the starter is throwing up zeroes and the bullpen finishes the job.
Molina did not just miss bats. He worked deep. He kept Northwest Arkansas off the board. He gave Springfield a tone-setter after the Cardinals had already swept Friday’s doubleheader.
That matters.
This was not just one good night in isolation. Springfield had lost the series opener Tuesday, then answered with a 7-1 win Wednesday, a doubleheader sweep Friday, and a shutout Saturday. That is four straight wins, and Molina helped turn Saturday into the most complete win of the run.
The staff honor still matters here.
A shutout is never one man alone unless he finishes all nine. The bullpen had to protect it. The defense had to make plays. The club had to finish the job.
But Molina earned the center of the story.
He set the whole thing up.
Peoria also had good pitching work Saturday. Leonel Sequera settled in after early trouble and kept the Chiefs close through 5.1 innings in a 4-3 win at Beloit. José Davila and Dominic Freeberger added scoreless relief, and Bobby Olsen struck out two in the ninth to close it.
But Springfield had the shutout.
And Molina gave the Cardinals 6.2 scoreless innings to make it possible.
That gets the nod.
Old School Take
There is still nothing better than a starter who takes the ball and gives his club real length.
Mason Molina did that Saturday.
6.2 innings.
No runs.
Six strikeouts.
A shutout win.
The Springfield pitching staff deserves the honor because nine zeroes belong to the whole group.
But Molina was the reason the night had its shape.
He gave Springfield control of the game.
He gave the bullpen a clean path.
He gave the Cardinals another win.
That is why Mason Molina and the Springfield pitching staff are The Cardinal Chronicle Minor League Pitcher of the Day.
The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
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Photo Credit: Mason Molina, Springfield Cardinals | Springfield Daily Citizen