Which St. Louis Cardinals Players are Truly All-Star Game Worthy?

Yadier Molina

Worthiness: 4/10, Likelihood: 9/10

Molina could make every All-Star Game for the rest of his career and technically be considered worthy, because he definitely fits the “star” definition as a possible Hall-of-Famer that people want to watch. If we’re making roster decisions based on current performance, though, it’s very hard to argue that Molina deserves to be on the team.

Molina’s offense has steadily declined for the past three years now, as his average has dropped each year, his power output has almost totally evaporated, and his strikeouts have gone up. This year, his OPS is below .700, which basically indicates that he’s a below-average performer at the plate. Most alarming, though, is the fact that Molina’s defense has declined so much over the past year. He currently ranks eighth among NL catchers who have played 50 or more games in caught-stealing percentage, and he also ranks eighth among NL catchers in defensive WAR according to Fangraphs. So far this season, Molina has caught just 30 percent of the runners who have attempted to steal on him. That’s his worst caught-stealing rate since 2013, and the second-worst of his career.

With all of that said, Molina is still leading the fan vote as this article is being written, and even if Posey surpasses him by the time all is said and done, it’s still more probable than not that players will vote him in based on his long-standing reputation as the best defensive catcher in baseball. It would be a surprise not to see him in San Diego in a couple of weeks.

Next: Matt Adams