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A year early for his own Cardinals Hall of Fame induction and just in time to spend a few days with the latest catching prospect to arrive in St. Louis, Yadier Molina will make a return engagement as visiting coach this weekend at Busch Stadium.

Molina will be with the team and sporting No. 4 again for all three games as the Cardinals host San Francisco.

This is the second time in five weeks that Molina will join manager Oliver Marmol's staff as a guest coach for home games. The manager, who first approached Molina about joining his staff in September 2023, reached out to Molina several weeks ago about being a resource for young players and joining him and the coach staff in the dugout as they ran the game.

This will be Molina's second trip to St. Louis in a few weeks after going several years without visiting.

He was in the dugout as a coach for two games during a Cubs series at the start of August.

He expressed then his wish to also join them for a road series or trip.

The timing of his latest cameo to work with coaches and catchers coincides with Saturday's team Hall of Fame inductions. The club will posthumously honor Walt Jocketty, the general manager when the Cardinals drafted and debuted Molina, and present a red jacket to Edgar Renteria, the shortstop when Molina debuted. Renteria and Molina were on the 2004 team that won the National League pennant and made the first of Molina's four World Series appearances with the Cardinals.

The third honoree at the Hall of Fame will be the longtime broadcaster, former closer, and ubiquitous club ambassador Al Hrabosky.

Molina's return to the St. Louis also comes as prospect Jimmy Crooks gets his first experiences in the majors.

The Cardinals plan to activate Yohel Pozo on Friday from the seven-day concussion list. But the team is likely to carry three catchers for the closing weeks of the season so that Crooks can get familiar with the major-league staff, with major-league preparation, and audition for a spot with the major-league club in 2026. 

Molina has expressed an interest in managing a major-league club, and he's taken on some experiences to prepare for that.

Shortly after retiring following the 2022 season, Molina managed a winter ball club in Venezuela. He has recently managed winter ball teams in Puerto Rico and in the Dominican Republic, where his club played against a team managed by former teammate Albert Pujols. Molina has been named manager for Team Puerto Rico's entry into this coming spring's World Baseball Classic.

Pujols is set to manage the Dominican's national team in the tournament.

During his August visit, Molina discussed how he wanted to be a coach with a major-league club as an entry point and the timetable for when he would like to do that. His oldest son, who has committed to University of Texas-Arlington, is in his senior year of high school and will be draft eligible next July. Molina said after being with his son through his senior year is when he would he look into a full-time return to the majors.

“That’s my plan in the future," Molina said in August. "I’m concentrating on my family right now. They deserve that. In the future, I’d love to coach. ... I want to keep (being apart of baseball), keep coaching, keep grinding, and that's what I'm going to do.�

Molina won two World Series championships in St. Louis. The nine-time Gold Glove Award-winner is considered the finest defensive catcher of his generation. The fans will be able to vote Molina into the Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2026. He is eligible for the National Baseball Hall of Fame for the class of 2028.

Buster Posey, Molina's contemporary at catcher and currently the Giants' president of baseball operations, is eligible for Cooperstown in 2027.