ST. LOUIS — In St. Louis, Yadier Molina is king. It's as well-known and accepted as toasted ravioli, provel-infused pizza and singing the blues on Broadway in this town.
But what happens when the king gets hurt? You need someone to step in.
For many seasons, the St. Louis Cardinals had guys like Tony Cruz and Francisco Pena to come in and handle the load when Molina got hurt, or more accurately, injured one of his thumbs. George Katteras, anyone? Eric Fryer was good, but he never played. Gerald Laird made for a better walk-off win picture than backup catcher. Gary Bennett and Jason LaRue were barely serviceable.
The arrival of Matt Wieters changed the insurance plan for the Cardinals behind home plate, giving the team much-needed backup in case Molina went down. When Yadi injured his thumb on a swing in June, Wieters stepped up and hasn't just carried the load at the position, he's been one of the more productive catchers in the National League.
In his last 30 games, Wieters ranks 3rd in the league with a .967 OPS and leads all NL catchers with six home runs during that time frame, doubling the output of former Cardinal, Carson Kelly. Wieters has performed better than names like Yasmani Grandal, Buster Posey, J.T. Realmuto and Brian McCann over the past month. He's out-slugged these other guys who had jobs and security before Christmas.
That's right. Wieters was a free agent until Feb. 27, when he signed a minor league contract with the Cardinals. In other words, starting once a week if he's lucky and watching Molina play a lot. When Molina went down in early July about two weeks too late, Wieters stepped in and hasn't slowed down. I remember campaigning on social media for him to get more at-bats, and I was told that he is a backup for a reason.
That backup is doing pretty well for himself, and it shouldn't be too big of a surprise. Once upon a time—like back in 2011-12—Wieters put up a 10 brefWAR between the two seasons. He cranked out 22 home runs routinely, won a couple Gold Gloves and played in four All-Star Games. The Cardinals didn't pick up some scrub off the block who had a good story and dreamed big. Wieters was a real pro long before he put on Cardinal red.
The Gold Gloves are legit, especially the arm. Wieters has thrown out six of 13 would-be base stealers. The 46% success rate, while dealing with a smaller sample size, would be a career high by an easy 9%. He knows how to take care of a pitcher and "take care" of a base thief, which is nice when the Cardinals change pitchers at least four or five times a game and put runners on base constantly.
Look, I think Molina still has some production left in him. The people who think he's done underestimate the severity of a thumb injury and how it hampers a swing. He was very productive the past three seasons, hitting 20 home runs and 20 doubles last season. But there's a time and place when Mike Shildt must know that running even a healthy Molina out there five to six times a week is insanity. Molina turned 37 this month, and next season should be his final season (his words, not mine). A time share is inevitable, whether or not Molina is still cranking. At least a sharing of some sort.
Wieters is just the first wave. Andrew Knizner showed enough promise for the Cardinals to trade Kelly for a guy named Paul Goldschmidt. Knizner, 24 years old and getting his own spot starts this month, is the heir apparent. He will be starting more next season, or at least he should. The kid has power, a strong arm behind home plate, and has already caught most of the team's young fleet of pitchers in the minors. There's a slim chance Wieters returns next season if he keeps hitting like this. Teams can't be that dumb two years in a row.
It's the first time the Cardinals have had reliable backup at the catcher position since Eli Marrero back in 2002. Marrero put up a 1.6 WAR behind Mike Matheny that season, which is the last time a backup posted higher than a 0.6 WAR before Wieters' 0.8 this season. Every catcher last season put up a negative number behind Molina, which is probably why he played so much.
Let's face it. The Cardinals have never given much stock to backup catchers with Molina's ironclad knees rarely seeing the bench the past 15 seasons. With the arrival of Wieters, the Cardinals have found lightning in a bottle at the right time.
RELATED: The Flaherty/Gibson comparison
Some would attribute Wieters' dramatic home run against San Diego at the end of June as a turning point in the season, or at least the moment when the Cardinals starved off embarrassment on getaway day. Could you bet cold hard cash on Cruz or Pena doing that in a pinch? I don't think so.
There are a lot of heroes in this comeback for the Cardinals. Wieters has to be near the top of the list. He's taken a previously vacant spot (as far as valid production) and turned it into a positive, even forcing the question of how the playing time should be split when Molina's thumb is 100%.
When that day comes, I hope Shildt still retains Wieters for at least two to three starts per week. That's the sign of a good manager: knowing where the tide is flowing and how to properly take advantage of it.
Matt Wieters didn't have a job until spring training started, but he's become one of the most productive catchers in the month of July for the Cardinals right when they needed a boost. After a couple down seasons, he's bounced back in a new role: mid-season rescue artist.
In the game of baseball, you really can't predict this stuff. Molina may be the king in this town, but even they need some help.
Latest Cardinals coverage:
- Goldy homers again, but Astros bash Cardinals 8-2
- Cardinals minor leaguer suspended for 50 games
- Opinion | How hard should the Cardinals push for Noah Syndergaard?
- As the trade deadline approaches, what will the Cardinals and Mozeliak do?
- Cards' Munoz brings out laughs after unnecessary dive in center field
- Giovanny Gallegos is becoming the biggest weapon in the Cardinals bullpen
- Cardinals make Forbes list of 50 most valuable sports teams in the world
