Community Picks: Philadelphia Phillies 0% vs St. Louis Cardinals 0%

Every major leaguer knows how important it is to stay fit during the long baseball season. But Monday night during the Philadelphia Phillies-St. Louis Cardinals series opener, Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina took that to a whole new level. In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Cardinals had a man at first with Molina at the plate. Phillies reliever Brett Oberholtzer fired a 1-2 pitch to Molina that was extra close to his knees and calves, which made Molina scoot back from the plate. Except his little jump caused him to tip forward toward the ground. [ Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Baseball contest now ] Instead of scrambling back up and pretending it never happened, Molina decided to go with it. He landed on his hands and did two push-ups. And he did them while still holding on to the bat! The crowd absolutely loved it, and they gave Yadi a nice cheer for his extra effort. And then Molina stood up, got set in the box, and punched the very next pitch to left center for a single. (The crowd loved that even more.) If mid at-bat push-ups have that kind of success, maybe they'll catch on and we'll see more batters doing extra exercise when they're in the box. They could even diversify with jumping jacks, toe touches, and yoga poses! It couldn't hurt, could it? More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:   The StewPod: A baseball podcast by Yahoo Sports Subscribe via iTunes or via RSS feed - - - - - - Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher Continue to Article

May 03, 2016 9:14:am EST

Every major leaguer knows how important it is to stay fit during the long baseball season. But Monday night during the Philadelphia Phillies-St. Louis Cardinals series opener, Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina took that to a whole new level. In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Cardinals had a man at first with Molina at the plate. Phillies reliever Brett Oberholtzer fired a 1-2 pitch to Molina that was extra close to his knees and calves, which made Molina scoot back from the plate. Except his little jump caused him to tip forward toward the ground. [ Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Baseball contest now ] Instead of scrambling back up and pretending it never happened, Molina decided to go with it. He landed on his hands and did two push-ups. And he did them while still holding on to the bat! The crowd absolutely loved it, and they gave Yadi a nice cheer for his extra effort. And then Molina stood up, got set in the box, and punched the very next pitch to left center for a single. (The crowd loved that even more.) If mid at-bat push-ups have that kind of success, maybe they'll catch on and we'll see more batters doing extra exercise when they're in the box. They could even diversify with jumping jacks, toe touches, and yoga poses! It couldn't hurt, could it? More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:   The StewPod: A baseball podcast by Yahoo Sports Subscribe via iTunes or via RSS feed - - - - - - Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher Continue to Article

May 03, 2016 9:14:am EST

The St. Louis Cardinals found some offense in time to end their longest slide of the young season and halt the Philadelphia Phillies' sizzling stretch. Hoping to begin a run in the positive direction, the Cardinals continue their home set with the Phillies on Tuesday night. Adam Wainwright allowed all of Philadelphia's runs in the third inning and delivered a tying three-run homer himself as St. Louis (13-13) snapped a four-game skid by rolling to a 10-3 victory on Monday. Continue to Article

May 03, 2016 1:37:am EST

The St. Louis Cardinals found some offense in time to end their longest slide of the young season and halt the Philadelphia Phillies' sizzling stretch. Hoping to begin a run in the positive direction, the Cardinals continue their home set with the Phillies on Tuesday night. Adam Wainwright allowed all of Philadelphia's runs in the third inning and delivered a tying three-run homer himself as St. Louis (13-13) snapped a four-game skid by rolling to a 10-3 victory on Monday. Continue to Article

May 03, 2016 1:37:am EST

St Louis Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright has carved out a pretty good career as a pitcher. The 34-year-old owns a 3.05 ERA over 11 years in the majors. He's been elected to three All-Star games, been a finalist for both the Cy Young and MVP award and has won two World Series rings. [ Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Baseball contest now ] So, yeah, the whole pitching thing has worked out for him. But in an alternate universe where Wainwright opted for offense, he probably could have made it as a power-hitting outfielder. Wainwright proved as much Monday against the Philadelphia Phillies. While he struggled on the mound early, surrendering three runs in the third inning, Wainwright had a chance at revenge in the bottom of the fourth.  With two men on, Wainwright delivered an absolute bomb. He launched a 91 mph fastball from Jeremy Hellickson 408 feet into the second deck out in left field. The hit tied the game, and played a huge role in the Cardinals' eventual 9-3 comeback victory. As you can see from the above video, the ball landed in "Big Mac Land." That's the branded area of the park named after former Cards slugger Mark McGwire. Pitchers aren't supposed to be able to hit the ball into "Big Mac Land." Wainwright isn't exactly known for his hitting. He carries a .197 career batting average over 593 plate appearances. That said, there's some evidence that he's been locked in at the plate this year. Adam Wainwright leads all pitchers in batted balls 100 MPH+ with 5. He has two tonight, 105.4 HR and a 105.7 MPH double. — Daren Willman (@darenw) May 3, 2016 It's also worth noting that the Pittsburgh Pirates considered drafting Wainwright as an outfielder back in 2000, according to Jenifer Langosch of the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch. Interesting fact I learned when reporting feature on Wainwright: #Pirates were prepared to draft him in 2nd round (2000) as an outfielder. — Jenifer Langosch (@LangoschMLB) October 3, 2013 That didn't happen, obviously, but it gives you an idea of Wainwright's abilities. He was once considered a pretty decent hitter. [Elsewhere: Justin Verlander and Kate Upton are engaged ] With that said, he's probably glad he went the pitching route. " Chicks dig the long ball " is old and outdated now. We're guessing Wainwright will take a game-ending strikeout over a dinger any day. More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports: The StewPod: A baseball podcast by Yahoo Sports Subscribe via iTunes or via RSS feed - - - - - - - Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik Continue to Article

May 03, 2016 12:25:am EST