St. Louis Cardinals: Molina’s constant presence could hurt team’s future

St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina has been a stalwart behind the plate since 2005. But his ironman ways have kept other catchers from establishing themselves on the team.

Unless one has an affinity for dugout benches, being a backup catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals probably isn’t the most enticing baseball job. Yadier Molina has been entrenched in the position for 14 seasons, but his playing frequency has a drawback besides the obvious fatigue concern: Catchers behind him on the depth chart receive very few opportunities to prove themselves.

Einar Diaz, Gary Bennett,  Jason LaRue, Gerald Laird, Tony Cruz, Alberto Rosario, Eric Fryer, Francisco Pena and now Matt Wieters have served as Molina’s primary backups throughout his career. Most of these players were veterans the Cardinals acquired because the team knew what it was getting and knew that if anything happened to Molina, it would at least be in somewhat capable hands.

But because Molina has been a fixture behind the plate for so many years, the Cardinals have not had a chance to develop catchers in the big leagues to a large extent. Cruz, Rosario and Pena were relatively young players who played as Molina’s caddies, and in the limited chances they had to play, none of them impressed. But big things weren’t expected from any of them.

Then came Carson Kelly.

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Drafted by the Cardinals in the second round of the 2012 draft, Kelly was a hotshot prospect who just needed to develop in the minors and eventually take the reins from Molina.

The only problem? Molina didn’t slow down. Kelly toiled in the minor leagues for seven seasons, coming up to the Cardinals briefly in 2016, 2017 and 2018. He accumulated only 131 plate appearances in his three years with the big club, eventually being traded with Luke Weaver and Andy Young to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Paul Goldschmidt.

Kelly only hit .154 in his Cardinals tenure, but he was different from the other catchers because he was supposed to be the catcher of the future. But even when he had a clear shot to be the backup, the Cardinals had him stay in the minor leagues so he would have a chance to play every day and further develop his skills.

However, Kelly had nothing left to prove in the minors. He needed time on the big stage to adjust to more skilled pitching and to find his stroke. But he wasn’t going to play much: Molina was blocking Kelly like a pitch in the dirt.

Getting shipped out to the desert was the best thing that could have happened to Kelly. But the deal might have never come to fruition if another catcher hadn’t risen from relative obscurity. The Cardinals took Andrew Knizner in the seventh round of the 2016 draft, and he has emerged as one of the team’s top prospects. He now finds himself in the same position Kelly was in for the past three years.

But Molina could finally be loosening his stranglehold on the position. He is hitting an anemic .083 in 24 at-bats to start the season, and his defense has slipped in the past few seasons, as has his arm strength. And in Wieters, he has a player who could be the most talented backup he has ever had. Molina could possibly receive more breaks throughout the season, and those are most likely what he needs.

Molina has been vocal about wanting to play every day, but catchers of Molina’s ilk who play day in and day out are becoming less common. Salvador Perez and J.T. Realmuto are among the few who still play almost daily. And that can have repercussions, as Perez will miss the entire season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Even Buster Posey spends much of his time at first base to keep his bat in the lineup.

With Molina’s advancing age and gradually diminishing skill set, he could stand to sit out a few more games this season despite his objections. This year or perhaps next year, which will be Molina’s final season, would be a perfect time to give Knizner some chances to show what he can do, and under the tutelage of Molina, he would be learning from one of the best in the business.

At age 24, Knizner can’t afford to languish in the minors as Kelly did. He may now be the catcher of the future, but Molina needs to step aside at times and let him grow into that role.