For 10 years now Yadier Molina has been one of the best defensive catchers in the league, and more importantly, one of the Cardinals leaders. But coming off of a two-injury season, Yadier is starting to wear down, despite only being 31-years of age. As the years have gone on, Yadier has been dwindling down on his games played. In the last 3 years, Molina has average to catch 128 games, while the 3 seasons before that his average was 140. The biggest problem, however, with Yadier’s injuries is that they have been in multiple places, which means that his whole body is slowly breaking down. So the question is, who can replace Molina well enough to keep the Red Birds winning?
Tony Cruz has been the solidified back-up catcher to Yadier Molina the last 3-4 seasons. Since catchers are one of the hardest positions to come by to find a solid back up, Cruz is a nice player to have. Defensively, Tony is slightly above average, with a caught-steeling percentage of 31% the last 4 seasons, while the league average has been 28%. Although it is nice to have a good arm in a back up, it is not important, especially when the player is backing up a catcher with a career caught-steeling percentage of 44%. What is significant though, is the fielding percentage and plate framing, which is important to the pitchers being comfortable with the guy behind the plate. Cruz has been praised for his plate framing and good relationships with the pitching staff. He has a career fielding percentage of .996 and he rarely allows himself to make a passed ball (when the catcher drops the ball causing it to leave him, basically a wild pitch, but the catcher’s fault). Tony Cruz is one of the most underrated understudies in the game today. However, he has help on the way to back-up the great Yadier.
Cody Stanley is a former graduate of University of North Carolina at Wilmington and a 4th round pick in the 2010 draft. Over the past 4 years, Cody has been very impressive in the minors, especially with his glove (39% caught-steeling percentage), but due to his positive testing of PED’s a few years back, Cody’s development has been slowed. But, do to him impressing in the Arizona Fall League in 2014, he has earned an invite to spring training and has been put on the Cardinal’s 40-man roster. The hope is to have Stanley keep improving, so that the Red Birds will have a dynamic duo in two apprentices to the great Yadier.
