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St. Louis Cardinals: Evaluating All the Catchers in This Year’s Camp

By Patrick Karraker

Feb 28, 2014; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina (4) connects for a base hit against the Miami Marlins during a spring training game at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 28, 2014; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina (4) connects for a base hit against the Miami Marlins during a spring training game at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /
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Yadier Molina St. Louis Cardinals
Feb 28, 2014; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina (4) connects for a base hit against the Miami Marlins during a spring training game at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /

The St. Louis Cardinals have eight catchers in big-league camp this year. Which ones have a chance at making the roster?

The St. Louis Cardinals haven’t had much drama at the catcher position ever since Yadier Molina took over as the full-time starter in 2005. As the legendary backstop enters his age 33 season, though, things are beginning to change. Despite the fact that he keeps earning All-Star and Gold Glove honors (perhaps on the basis of reputation), his offensive numbers have now dropped off significantly in two straight years, while his defensive play also slipped noticeably in 2015. He’s missed extended time due to injuries in each of the past three seasons, and he’s missed playoff games in the past two.

Molina underwent surgery in October to repair a thumb injury he sustained in a late-season matchup with the Chicago Cubs, and after it was discovered that the surgery was unsuccessful, he underwent a second operation in December. He’s expected to miss all of spring training and is hoping to be ready for Opening Day, but we’ve all seen enough baseball injuries–especially at this time of year–to know that his availability on April 3 isn’t an absolute certainty.

Veteran backstop Brayan Pena is on standby to serve as the Cardinals’ starter in case Molina can’t go, and if Molina is ready then Pena will be a significant upgrade over Tony Cruz as the backup. The Cardinals will also have six other catchers in big-league camp who, to varying extents, will attempt to make their respective cases as possible alternatives in the event of another injury.

On the slides that follow, we’ll rank all eight catchers attending major-league camp on a three-grade scale, deciding whether they’re “safe and sound” (virtually assured to be on the opening day roster unless they get injured), “on the bubble” (meaning that they’ve got a shot, but will have to compete for a job during spring training), or “not likely” (meaning that it would take an absolutely unbelievable spring training performance for the player to have even a minuscule chance of cracking the opening day roster).

We’ll start with the catchers who appear to be safe heading into camp:

Next: Safe and Sound

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