Molina is known for his in-game pitch-calling skills, and pitchers rarely reject signs that he shows for the next pitch. Matheny stated, "We tell all our young pitchers when they come up to pitch their game. Yadi needs to find out how they work. He's a quick study. But at the same time, they tend to just follow him. We do put them in Yadi's hands." Molina reads opposing hitters and will move fielders with subtle signs and gestures to align them with his pitch calling. La Russa commented that "it's not just instinct. It's sense, based on how a hitter's standing, how he responds to the pitch or two before, and he's very creative in how he makes his adjustment based on what he sees with the hitter and knowing what his pitcher can do."