Cardinals' 5 all-time best catchers in franchise history

These five catchers were the best to ever don the tools of ignorance for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Catcher is one of the most unique positions in baseball given how it's been judged throughout history. It has historically been the weakest position offensively outside of pitcher, but as the game has shifted away from stolen bases and toward analytics, catchers' defensive evaluations have become less focused on their arms and more on their ability to call games and make pitches appear to be strikes to the umpires. Thus, the idea of what makes a player a good catcher has changed over the decades.

Although the St. Louis Cardinals have only had one catcher make it to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in a Cardinals cap, the team has still drafted and developed its share of stars who played the game's most grueling position. These five catchers, along with a few who didn't make the cut, are essential patches woven into the rich fabric of the Cardinals' history.

This is the first in a series of Redbird Rants ranking the top 5 Cardinals at every position group. Come back each week to see the rest of our rankings.

Honorable mentions

Del Rice

Del Rice was a strong defensive catcher who got the most out of his pitchers, directing his pitching staff to the lowest National League ERA in 1947 and 1949. He was less potent with the bat, although he hit .259 in 1952 while leading the National League in runners caught stealing.

Mike Grady

Mike Grady spent the last three years of his career with the Cardinals, and they were some of his best seasons, as Grady led the National League in OPS for a catcher in 1904 and 1905. His defense behind the plate improved as his career progressed, even though he gradually spent more time at first base in his seasons with St. Louis.

Walker Cooper

An eight-time All-Star who won two World Series titles with the Cardinals, Walker Cooper hit .296 in eight seasons with the Cardinals. He led the National League in range factor per game in 1942 and 1943 and finished in the top 10 in caught stealing percentage eight times.

Darrell Porter

Darrell Porter's best seasons were with the Kansas City Royals, but he was named the MVP of the NLCS and World Series with the Cardinals in 1982. He was an All-Star four times thanks to his defensive ability, power, and batting eye.

5. Mike Matheny

Mike Matheny spent his first five major league seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers, but he really came into his own after he signed with the Cardinals in December 1999. He won four Gold Glove awards, three of them with the Cardinals.

Matheny hit .261 in 2000 and threw out 53% of attempted base stealers, tops in the National League. That year, he also finished first in total zone runs among catchers. During his Cardinals tenure, Matheny hit a respectable (for a catcher) .245.

Concussions plagued Matheny throughout his career, and he retired before the 2007 season because of the effects of post-concussion syndrome. Matheny has been active in his support of improved safety for catchers.

Since his playing career ended, Matheny has served as a manager for the Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals. Under Matheny's management, the Cardinals won the National League Central title from 2013 to 2015. The Cardinals fired Matheny on July 14. 2018, and the Royals hired him on Oct. 31, 2019. He managed the Royals for three seasons.

4. Tom Pagnozzi

Taken by the Cardinals in the eighth round of the 1983 draft, Tom Pagnozzi spent all 12 years of his major league career with the Cardinals and was noted for his strong defense behind the plate. Originally a backup catcher and utility player, Pagnozzi took over behind the plate full-time in 1991, when he led the National League in defensive WAR and total zone runs as a catcher.

Pagnozzi was named to the National League All-Star team in 1992, the year where he won his second of three Gold Glove awards. His strongest season offensively was in 1994, at age 31. That year, Pagnozzi hit .272/.327/.416. He also led the major leagues in caught-stealing percentage in 1994, nailing 50% of attempted base stealers.

Pagnozzi retired in 1998 after the Cardinals released him in August. He finished his career with a .254 average, and he ranks 20th all-time among catchers in total zone runs.

3. Tim McCarver

Tim McCarver debuted in the major leagues at the tender age of 17 and would go on to have an illustrious 21-year career. Uniquely fleet of foot for a catcher, McCarver led the National League in triples in 1967, a year where he finished second in league MVP voting. He was an All-Star in 1966 and 1967 and developed a rapport with pitcher Bob Gibson, serving as Gibson's primary catcher throughout McCarver's time in St. Louis.

McCarver was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies after the 1969 season, and near the end of his career, he became Steve Carlton's personal catcher. He later spent a year with the Montreal Expos and saw two years of limited play with the Boston Red Sox, then returned to the Phillies for parts of five more seasons.

McCarver hit .271 with 97 home runs in his long career. After his time in baseball, McCarver took to the broadcast booth with the Phillies, later working his way into the national broadcast spotlight on several networks. In 2014, McCarver joined the Cardinals' regional network and called a few games per season through 2019. He was elected into the Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2017.

1. Yadier Molina

The heir to Mike Matheny, Yadier Molina took over full-time behind the plate in 2005 and didn't relinquish the position until his retirement 17 years later. Although he began his career as a light-hitting catcher whose defense was his calling card, Molina picked up his offense in a big way in 2007, hitting .275, and his production at the plate continued to climb, with his slash line peaking in 2012 at .315/.373/.501. He won his lone Silver Slugger award in 2013, where he had his highest career average of .319.

Molina didn't sacrifice his defense when he found his hitting stride: He led the major leagues in caught stealing percentage four times in his career, and teams eventually learned to avoid running on his rifle arm. The Cardinals had by far the fewest stealing attempts against them of any team during Molina's long tenure behind the plate.

Although Molina's offensive production sagged in his later years, he was still a favorite among Cardinals pitchers for his intangibles and ability to call a game. Molina finished his career in 2022 as a 10-time All-Star, a nine-time Gold Glove winner, and a six-time recipient of the Fielding Bible Award. He is the all-time major league leader in catcher putouts and second in defensive runs saved. Molina will be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2028.

This is the Mount Rushmore of Cardinals catchers, and with the team's greatest catcher of all time having recently retired, many younger Cardinals fans are in unfamiliar waters, as Molina was the primary catcher for most, if not all, of their lives. Regardless of the future, current Cardinals fans can say they saw the greatest catcher in the team's storied history and one of the best to ever play the position.