ST. LOUIS -- Yadier Molina will represent Puerto Rico in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, his agent, Melvin Roman, confirmed to MLB.com and MLB Network's Jon Morosi on Monday. Molina has participated in each of the three previous WBC events.
Molina is the first player from the Cardinals' 40-man roster known to have formally committed to playing in the upcoming WBC, which will be held from March 6-22. Cardinals closer Seunghwan Oh garnered consideration by the Korea Baseball Organization but was not added to Korea's roster because of his suspension by KBO, stemming from a casino gambling incident that happened before Oh signed with the Cardinals in January.
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Molina made his WBC debut in 2006 when he appeared in four games for Puerto Rico. He finished 3-for-5 that year. Molina shared time behind the plate with Ivan Rodriguez again three years later and finished the '09 tournament with one hit in six at-bats. Molina then helped Puerto Rico advance to the WBC championship game in 2013 when he started seven games and went 7-for-27.
Players who participate in the WBC will leave their respective teams midway through Spring Training and remain away until their WBC team is eliminated or the championship game is played, whichever comes first.