Projecting the St. Louis Cardinals’ 25-Man Opening Day Roster

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Catchers (2): Yadier Molina, Tony Cruz
There isn’t a whole lot of drama at this position. While that’s been a positive statement going into the past couple seasons, as Molina’s been one of the top catchers in the majors, it could end up being more negative going forward, as it appears that Molina’s 11 big-league seasons, and five straight from 2009-2013 in which he played in at least 136 games, have begun to take a toll on him. He was limited to 110 games in 2014 due to a hand injury, and he hit seven homers with a slash line of .282/.333/.386, all his lowest totals since 2010.
While those numbers are by no means bad, they’re a sign that the 32-year-old Molina may be on the downward slope of his career, and thus it will be important for the Cardinals to have a decent backup catcher going forward. Cruz, who has hit just .202 (43-for-213) as a starter during the past two seasons, hasn’t necessarily shown the ability to be a viable fill-in for Molina when the opportunity has presented itself; in fact, he’s been so iffy that he was supplanted by journeyman Rob Johnson late in the 2013 season and largely gave way to dumpster dive A.J. Pierzynski as he struggled to replace Molina last season.
While the Cards did add three different catchers (Ed Easley, Cody Stanley, and Mike Ohlman) to the 40-man roster this offseason, it was surprising that they did not bring in a more highly-regarded backup catcher. While Cruz has inspired some confidence this spring by hitting .500 (8-for-16) so far, it should be interesting to see if he can rise to the occasion if Molina goes down again.

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