Defense is the name of the game for the catchers on the St. Louis Cardinals. 27-year old righty swinging Yadier Molina will be the starter once again. He played in 140 games last season for the Cardinals and he was 141 for 481 (.293 avg, .749 OPS) wiht 45 runs scored, 6 homers, 54 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. His bat continues to improve but Molina’s calling card is his defense. Molina had 5 errors and 4 passed balls in 138 games behind the plate last season. Molina threw out 33% of the runners trying to steal against him last season and Cardinals’ pitchers loved throwing to him as they had a 3.48 ERA with him behind the plate.

35-year old righty swinging Jason LaRue will be the back-up for the Cardinals again in 2010. He played in 51 games for the Cardinals last season and he was 25 for 104 (.240 avg, .615 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 2 homers and 6 RBIs. LaRue has random power but he won’t likely be much of a asset with a bat in his hands this year. LaRue is also a outstanding defensive catcher as he only made 1 error and had 1 passed ball in 43 games behind the plate for the Cardinals last year. He also threw out 23% of the runners trying to steal on him last season and Cardinals’ pitchers had a 4.46 ERA with him behind the plate.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CATCHERS IN 2010: B