St. Louis Cardinals: 10 top moments from 2022 regular season

2. Cardinals legends Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright set MLB battery mate record

It’s going too be hard to imagine the Cardinals without Yadier Molina. It’s going to be hard to see Wainwright take the mound and not throw to Molina. They have been a vital battery to the Cardinals since 2006.

The 2022 season will be the final regular season for the battery pair as Molina is retiring after the Cardinals’ postseason run. So it’s quite the accomplishment that the two earned the all-time career battery starts this season with 328 starts. The pair passed the previous record of 324 held by Detroit Tigers battery mates Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan. The two worked on their record between 1963-1975.

It is such a tremendous record, and it’s hard to imagine this will ever be approached.

Wainwright had a rough 2022 season with a record of 11-12 in 32 games pitched. He earned a 3.71 ERA over 191.2 innings pitched. He threw 143 strikeouts.  Wainwright does have a personal record he could set in 2023 if he does decide to return to the Cardinals. He is five wins away from 200 career victories with a 195-117 career record.

After some poor outings in September, Wainwright may have a minimal role in the Cardinals’ postseason run. He will be there because he is Adam Wainwright, but he may have a short leash after dealing with a “dead arm” for much of September. He never got through it enough to have successful games in that final month.

As for Molina, he will begin his managerial career once his postseason with the Cardinals concludes.  He will manage a team in Venezuela for the Winter League and will manage the Puerto Rico National Team in the World Baseball Classic.

For his career, Molina hit .277/.327/.399 with an OPS of 726. He played in 2,223 games as catcher for the Cardinals, the most by any catcher for one team. He was a nine-time Rawlings Gold Glove winner. He won the NL Platinum Glove four times. He appeared in two World Series Championships. Molina was a 10-time NL All-Star Catcher. And, he is one of the best defensive catchers you will ever see, having caught 378 runners attempting to steal a base off of him.

He has had a fantastic career. Legendary, even. Molina will need to be fitted for his Red Jacket as he will soon be a Cardinals Hall of Famer and an MLB Hall of Famer. He might even get himself a statue in front of Busch Stadium.

Here’s hoping Molina has an epic postseason for the Cardinals.