Former Cardinals ace calls out battery mate's omission from list of all-time greats

Most St. Louis Cardinals fans who followed Yadier Molina's career will vehemently defend his case as a catcher worthy of induction into the Hall of Fame. Although his offensive statistics don't stack up to those of some other catching titans, Molina's defensive skills and rocket arm were among the best to ever grace a baseball diamond. But according to his teammates, Molina's guidance behind the plate and his intangibles are what truly separated him from the rest of baseball's backstops.

Former Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright pulled no punches when a subjective list surfaced online of the top 10 catchers of all time, responding that Molina was the best who ever played at his position.

Nobody would be more qualified to judge Molina's acumen behind the plate than Wainwright, who, along with Molina, holds the major league record for most games started between a pitcher and a catcher. Catchers are notoriously difficult to judge by wins above replacement alone given their importance to the game beyond the box score, as much of their value comes from their work with pitchers and preparation before games.

The Cardinals received a blast of reality regarding Molina's immeasurable value after his retirement, when they seemingly expected incoming catcher Willson Contreras to seamlessly take the reins from Molina and were treated to a nasty surprise when Contreras couldn't live up to Molina's impossibly high standards in off-the-field preparation and on-field game-calling.

Molina's detractors often sigh and roll their eyes when intangibles are brought up, but they can't deny one of the most impressive statistics in modern baseball: During Molina's long tenure as the team's starting catcher, from 2005 to 2022, the Cardinals allowed the fewest stolen bases and had the fewest stolen base attempts against them, and the margin wasn't close.

Molina might never earn the respect he deserves from fans outside of Cardinals Nation who didn't witness the mastery of his craft on a daily basis, and even those within the fanbase are likely unable to appreciate everything he did when it came to helping pitchers and other catchers maximize their talent. Wainwright's shoutout of Molina should remind us all that there is so much more to the game than we can see from the stands or from our televisions, and Molina was a key cog in the machine that kept the Cardinals humming for so many years.