Kansas City Royals: Catcher situation for duration of 2019

Martin Maldonado is gone, meaning Cam Gallagher was the only catcher on the roster with experience at the position this season. What will the catcher situation look like for the rest of the season?

Salvador Perez getting injured before the 2019 season even began was a huge kick in the you-know-where for Kansas City Royals fans. He’s been the bright spot for this team for so many years and replacing him, especially with fans knowing it’d be a down year, was a tough pill to swallow so early into the season.

The Royals signed Martin Maldonado to fill the void at starting catcher and Maldonado was serviceable. He didn’t mash at the plate by any means, but he was the best defensive replacement one could find for Perez so late into the offseason.

Maldonado did a good enough job that the Cubs offered up Mike Montgomery for him on the trade market. While I wrote a piece on not being fond of this move, it shows that Maldonado was coveted and at least the Royals got something in exchange for his .226 batting average.

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So what will the KC Royals do now that Maldonado is gone?

Well, Cam Gallagher is obviously going to see more time behind the dish now. Gallagher has been with the organization since 2017, which is when he made his MLB debut. This has been the first year where he’s spent the entire season (at least to this point) in the major leagues and he’s currently hitting .215 with 93 at bats under his belt.

The Royals have decided to go with prospect Meibrys Viloria as the backup to Gallagher. They called Viloria up after the trade of Maldonado and it appears he’ll be the backup for the duration season barring either injury or really poor performance.

Viloria batted .259 in limited plate appearances last year, and this year has only had four appearances thus far. He was slashing .264/.344/.332 with one home run and 24 RBI in 248 plate appearances with Double-A Northwest Arkansas before his call-up.

While Gallagher and Viloria will hold down the fort at catcher this season, neither are likely going to be a long-term solution. Salvador Perez will hopefully be healthy and catching again in 2020 and the hope is that MJ Melendez is ready to go when Perez decides to call it a career (or the Royals part ways with him, whichever comes first).

That being said, there’s still over two months left of the 2019 Major League Baseball season and the Royals trading away Martin Maldonado left them without a true veteran catcher. It’ll now be time to see what Cam Gallagher can do and if he can potentially be the future backup behind the dish in Kansas City.