Cardinals: Adam Wainwright, Yadier Molina on verge of breaking MLB record

St. Louis Cardinals legends Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina are on the verge of breaking another MLB record.

This season, the St. Louis Cardinals’ legendary duo of Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina will break the record of most games played by battery mates in Major League Baseball history, as long as each player stays healthy.

But on Wednesday, they tied the MLB record for most team wins (202) as starting battery mates in MLB history.

Even in his age-41 season, Wainwright has continued to pitch like an ace. He has a 3.18 ERA through six starts, recording 28 strikeouts in 34 innings. While his walk rate is higher than it has been since 2019 (3.4 walks per nine innings), he has given the Cardinals an unquestioned frontline starter with Jack Flaherty still on the Injured List.

Molina, meanwhile, is still being eased into action following a very limited spring training. He has only 53 plate appearances this season, slashing an underwhelming .208/.208/.226. But where he makes up for his offensive deficiencies he makes up for his work behind the plate. Just ask Wainwright, who has gotten to work with Molina’s elite pitch calling, pitch framing and ability to command a game behind the plate for almost two decades.

It’s a huge component of what has made the duo so successful and dominant for such a sustained period of time. For both Molina and Wainwright, this is likely the last season each will play in MLB before they retire, and this is just one of the many records they will break this season.

You can expect the Cardinals to give Molina and Wainwright every opportunity to break those records, too. When asked before Wednesday’s game if he considered holding Molina out of the lineup, who was battling an illness, manager Oli Marmol said: “He’d have to be dead to not be in there today.”