St. Louis Cardinals: Yadier Molina nominated to win ninth Gold Glove

Stop me if this shocks you. St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina was nominated for a Gold Glove award.

Early yesterday afternoon, Rawlings announced the three nominees at each position in each league for a Gold Glove. To no surprise, St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina was one of the three nominees for National League catchers. San Francisco’s Buster Posey and Cincinnati’s Tucker Barnhart are the other two nominees.

Molina was on a run of eight consecutive Gold Gloves from 2008-2015. Last season the award went to Posey, who entered the league in 2009.

2017 featured some great defense from the lone Molina brother in the majors. Yadi and third baseman Jedd Gyorko combined for a few fantastic back pick plays, one of them coming against Barnhart’s Reds.

Looking at some numbers, Barnhart has the second most innings caught out of the three, but has the most impressive stats. In 926.1 innings, Barnhart threw out 32 of 73 base runners stealing for a percentage of 43.8 compared to Molina and Posey who threw out 35.8% and 37.9% respectively.

Barnhart also had more assists with 89 which led all catchers and had a fielding percentage of .999 making just one lone error. Tucker also led in defensive runs saved with 21 while Molina and Posey combined for 2 defensive runs saved.

Focusing specifically on Yadi, he shows no signs of slowing down as long as he remains healthy. Catching 1,125.2 innings, this total was his lowest playing in 130-plus games since 2013.

Even with the young and talented Carson Kelly waiting in the wings, Molina’s contract might be reason enough to keep him in the lineup. Factor in arguably his best offensive season since 2012, compared to Kelly’s career batting average of .171 in a small sample of 82 at-bats, Yadi should remain behind the dish for the foreseeable future.

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As for the Gold Glove, I expect to see Tucker Barnhart take it. While Yadi did play more innings and made some memorable plays, the stats support Mr. Barnhart.