The Cardinals have plenty of heroes to thank for their late charge into playoff contention. Albert Pujols‘ .388/.463/.626 slash line since August 11th. Jamie Garcia’s dominance since August 25th. And so on. One of the unsung heroes of this season has been Yadier Molina. Molina has had a down year defensively but has made up for it with a career year at the plate.

During Thursday’s game Molina knocked in his 62nd and 63rd runs on the year, the latter setting a new personal best for RBI in a season. Since RBI are more a measure of how well the hitters ahead of you in the order get themselves into scoring position, let’s also look at his OPS+. Molina has posted a 121 OPS+ this season, his best by 21 points, and fourth on the club among those with 450+ PA, behind the usual subjects (Lance Berkman (169), Pujols (156), Matt Holliday (154)). A big part of that has been newfound power – his 13 HR this season is almost double his previous high (7, in 2008).

His batting average is also up, sitting right at .300 going into yesterday. That is a bounce-back from the .263 he posted in 2010, and in line with the two seasons before that (.293 and .300, respectively, for 2009/2008). Sometimes when a player’s batting average ticks up we see a corresponding increase in Batting Average on Balls In Play, indicating the player is having a little better luck than other hitters. Not so with Molina – his BABIP in 2011 is .307. Yes that is the second highest he’s ever posted, but not out of line with his last 5 seasons, where it hovered between .281 and .310.

So what has changed? Well, his ground ball rate is down and his fly ball rate is up as compared to his two previous seasons. He is getting more loft on the ball, meaning he is driving the ball better. Both rates are right where they were in 2007, his previous best season. It appears he has re-discovered what he did well at the plate 4 years ago, with excellent results.

Molina’s year also puts him on the short list of current catchers who can hit. His wRC+ 0f 117 is almost identical to Miguel Montero‘s (119), the cleanup hitter for the pending NL West champion Arizona Diamondbacks. His fWAR of 3.7 places him in a virtual dead heat with Carlos Santana of Minnesota (3.7), Brian McCann (3.8), and Matt Weiters of Baltimore (4.0), three guys who came into the league with well-deserved reputations for superior offense.

It’s been a long time since St Louis had a catcher who put up this kind of offensive season. Since 1901, only 6 Cardinals have played 130 games or more at catcher and posted an OPS+ of 110 0r better. Molina is the first to do it since Darrell Porter in 1983. The other 4 names are a who’s who of great Cardinal Catchers: Ted Simmons, who did it six times; Tim McCarver, Bob O’Farrell, and Frank Snyder.

A lineup featuring Berkman, Pujols, and Holliday is imposing enough. Having a threat from behind the plate is a welcome luxury. Yadier Molina is having a fantastic year with the stick. We would be remiss if we did not acknowledge it.

Mike Metzger is a life-long Cardinals fan still with his fingers crossed in San Diego. He also blogs about the Padres. Follow him on Twitter.

The Royals were involved in four close games this week (won by two runs or less) and were able to come out on top in two of them. What this translates to me is that the pitching, which was heavily in question since the off-season with the trading of Zack Greinke, Gil Meche retiring and a handful or green bullpen candidates, has been doing their job of keeping the games within reach for the offense to step up and win the game.

Photo Courtesy of Minda Haas

However, it has been hit or miss this week when it comes crunch time for the Royals offense. The Royals have stranded 46 runners in the first six games of the week, including twenty in the last two games against Cleveland. The Royals cannot afford to leave a small village of base runners every single night.

It’s not all bad news though for the Royals offense. They have four every day lineup players batting at or over .329 after Friday nights contest. These four players also make up the 3-6 in the lineup, which you would expect your best hitters to be. However, Getz the leadoff hitter needs to ramp it up a notch after this week. He only has two hits this week, which took his average from a mediocre .269 down to .239 after Friday’s contest. As a team the Royals are currently tied for first in the American league in batting average (.269), rank second in on base percentage (.340) and first in stolen bases with 26.

The pitching and defense have both moved up a few slots in terms of performance related stats this week as well. No longer at the bottom or near it, they are in the middle of the pack in the American League. With strong consistent efforts by the likes of Alex Gordon (leads A.L. outfielders in assists) and the rest of the outfield, the defense will continue to progress and get better as the season goes on. The catchers, who are often unsung heroes of the defense, have stepped up very well this month. They have thrown out six runners and only allowed ten stolen bases, which is good enough to be in the top five in both categories.

The Royals have a tough week ahead against the defending American League champions (Rangers) before getting a day off, and facing off against Cleveland again for a three game set. Then they come back home to face the Twins next weekend. A tough stretch of games, but if the Royals can find a way to get some timely hits over the next five or six games, they may be at the top of the division by next weekend.

PLAYER PROFILE

Anthony Seratelli

Anthony Seratelli

Shortstop

AA-Northwest Arkansas Naturals

27 years old

Bats: Switch

Throws: Right

Height: 6’0”

Weight: 205 lbs.

Contract purchased by the Royals from the Windy City ThunderBolts, Frontier League (Independent)

When you think of the 2010 Northwest Arkansas Naturals team, some special names pop out, including Royals top prospects Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer, among others. But one of the many unsung heroes of the team this season has been switch-hitting shortstop Anthony Seratelli.

Although Seratelli is not a top-flight prospect, he’s held down the starting shortstop spot for most of the season, in the process getting 299 plate appearances for the Naturals while batting .254 and stealing 15 bases.

Seratelli is by no means a power hitter: he has hit only three home runs this season, and his slugging percentage is actually lower than his on-base percentage.

But it’s that on-base percentage that makes Seratelli special.

Over the course of 101 games for the Naturals, Seratelli has drawn 49 walks, driving his on-base percentage to .361.

On-base percentage is a statistic where the big-league Royals are sorely lacking.

Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a place for Seratelli in the larger organizational plans. He’s blocked from above by Yuniesky Betancourt, Mike Aviles and a slew of others, and from below he’ll be competing with first-round draft choice Christian Colon.

But the versatile Seratelli could definitely become a Willie Bloomquist-type utilityman. And every good team needs one.

During the 2010 playoffs, Seratelli has found a whole new gear. Check out the “Position Player of the Week” below for more…

MiLB WEEKLY ROUNDUP

AAA – Omaha Royals

Record to date: 81-63, third place in the PCL American North to finish the season

Coming up: Despite their 81-63 record, the O-Royals did not make the AAA playoffs.

AA – Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Record to date: 44-26 in the second half (first place), 86-54 overall to finish the season

In the playoffs: The Naturals took out Springfield in a best-of-five series to advance to the Texas League finals. They split the first two games with Midland at Springdale, Ark., and will finish the series on the road in Midland.

Transactions: Will Smith was assigned to Northwest Arkansas from the A+ Wilmington Blue Rocks

Coming up: The best-of-five series continued Friday night and Saturday, and Sunday is an as-needed date.

A+ – Wilmington Blue Rocks

Record to date: 36-32 in the second half (second place), 68-70 overall to finish the season

Transactions: Will Smith was promoted to the AA-Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Coming up: The Blue Rocks missed out on the 2010 playoffs.

POSITION PLAYER OF THE WEEK – PLAYOFFS EDITION

Anthony Seratelli, Shortstop AA-Northwest Arkansas Naturals

During the 2010 playoffs: .389 avg., 5 home runs, 8 RBI

Not to double-dip here, but Seratelli has been lights-out during the playoffs. He’s clubbed five home runs (two more than he hit during all of the regular season), and his slugging percentage is 1.222.

Danny Duffy

PITCHER OF THE WEEK – PLAYOFFS EDITION

Danny Duffy, AA-Northwest Arkansas Naturals

During the 2010 playoffs: 1-0, 1.69 ERA, 15 K

Duffy, a formerly top prospect who had his troubles earlier this season, has bounced back in a big way for the 2010 Texas League playoffs. His 15 strikeouts lead the league during the playoffs, and Duffy was crucial in the series against Springfield.