St. Louis Cardinals: Five Potential Backup Catchers for Yadier Molina in 2017

2. Alberto Rosario – 29 Years Old

The St. Louis Cardinals could stick with their fallback from last year and go with Alberto Rosario as their backup. Rosario was originally signed by the LA Angels in 2005, and played 11 seasons in the minors before making his MLB debut.

Rosario, 29, debuted with the Cardinals last year during a road trip in Milwaukee. I was actually at this game, and remember him getting his first base hit. Pretty cool moment for a guy who had been in the minors since he was 19.

Rosario was called up after Pena hit the DL for the second time. He had spent all of 2016 with the Triple-A Redbirds and put up solid numbers there. His slash-line was .281/.323./325 through 124 plate appearances. However, he showed little to no pop whatsoever.

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Rosario’s bat never quite developed like his arm did. Throughout his career in the minors, Rosario threw out 42% of base runners which is pretty impressive. But his bat, not so much. His career line in the minors is .238/.290/.308. But 2336 plate appearances since he was signed, he finally got to the big leagues.

He finished the 2016 season with a major league stat line of .184/.225/.237 through 20 games which isn’t very far off from his career minors line. But he did show the Cardinals that he could be a decent backup if need be.

Rosario is not going to help his team with his bat, but he can be a very good defender. He has a good body for catching, good framing abilities, and a cannon of an arm. He has the ability to stop the running game on a dime so when Yadi isn’t playing, it’s good to have someone who can throw out runners at almost the same pace.

2. Alberto Rosario – 29 Years Old

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