Cardinals celebrate anniversary of record-breaking battery

The St. Louis Cardinals broke a five-game losing streak on Sunday with a 3-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. But beyond the victory, Cardinals fans had another reason to celebrate. Sept. 14, 2025, marked the three-year anniversary of Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina setting Major League Baseball’s all-time record for starts by a battery. On that day in 2022, the duo made their 325th start together, passing Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan, who started 324 games together as teammates with the Detroit Tigers from 1963-75.

Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina's battery record is one that will likely never be broken in MLB history

Wainwright and Molina went on to start three more games, finishing with 328. Wainwright made 411 career starts over 18 seasons with St. Louis, while Molina played in 2,224 games across 19 years. Both are regarded among the franchise’s greatest players. On the Cardinals’ all-time list in WAR, Wainwright ranks eighth and Molina 12th, each compiling over 41 for their careers.

In an era where longevity—especially among pitchers and catchers—is rare, the record appears to be unbreakable. The odds of two players not only sustaining such long careers but also doing so together with one franchise are tremendously slim. Of the top five battery duos in MLB history, Wainwright and Molina are the only pair to play after 1975, further cementing the likelihood that their record will stand. Currently, no other active battery is even close to entering the top five.

Molina will likely be a Hall of Famer, and while Wainwright likely won't get the call, it's truly incredible to have two of the best players in baseball history partner together for as long as they did. Had Wainwright not experienced some significant injuries in his prime, that record would have been even more impressive. Wainwright did cross the 200 win mark in his final year in 2023.

For these reasons, close friends and longtime teammates Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina seem destined to remain atop the history books for years to come.