Major League Baseball

How many of Adam Wainwright's non-Yadier Molina catchers does he remember?

Updated Sep. 13, 2022 1:52 p.m. ET

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By Jordan Shusterman
FOX Sports MLB Writer

On Wednesday at Busch Stadium, Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina will make history.

For the 325th time, Molina will catch a Wainwright start, breaking the record held for nearly 50 years by Tigers battery Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan, who teamed up for 324 starts from 1962 to 1975.

Molina and Wainwright have become synonymous with each other to the point that it has become difficult to fathom anyone else behind the plate when Wainwright is on the mound. Yet catching is a grueling responsibility, and for as remarkably durable and resilient as Molina has been throughout his career, he has spent some time on the injured list or getting rest.

In turn, other catchers have indeed caught pitches from the Cardinals’ right-hander over the years — 17 of them, to be exact. 

I recently had the opportunity to give Wainwright a pop quiz of sorts to see how many of those 17 he could name, whether they caught him for one inning or 100.

As a way to celebrate their historic partnership — and understand the circumstances required to prevent this duo from teaming up over their remarkable careers — here’s a complete timeline of the rare instances when someone other than Molina caught Wainwright.

2005: Mike Mahoney (one game, one inning)

Seventeen years ago this past Sunday, Wainwright made his MLB debut, coming out of the bullpen with the Cardinals down 4-2 in the ninth inning against the Mets. Molina started the game behind the plate and was replaced by Einar Díaz in the eighth. Then Mahoney came in for the ninth to catch Wainwright in his debut.

Although this was the beginning of a lengthy and storied career for Wainwright, Mahoney appeared in only two more big-league games. Molina, meanwhile, caught Wainwright for the first time a couple of weeks later, and thus began the partnership.

Did Wainwright remember Mahoney catching him? Yes. You never forget your first catcher.

2006: Gary Bennett (19 games, 22.1 innings)

While Molina had seized the Cardinals’ starting catching job by 2006, Wainwright was still coming out of the bullpen. Even so, he threw the majority of his innings to Molina in his first full season, but Bennett — a journeyman backup who played in 558 games for eight teams over 13 seasons — linked up with Wainwright a bunch as well.

Then the 2006 postseason helped catapult Molina and Wainwright into the national spotlight for the first time, most notably with one iconic curveball.

Somewhat lost in that moment is the fact that Molina — after struggling immensely at the plate in the regular season — hit two homers in that NLCS, including the go-ahead blast in Game 7 before Wainwright closed it out. 

2007: Gary Bennett (10 games, 65 innings)

Fresh off the World Series title, the first of Molina and Wainwright’s starts together came on April 6, 2007, with a victory over Houston in which Wainwright threw seven innings of one-run ball. Bennett also caught Wainwright a good bit that year, including most of June, when Molina was out due to a fractured wrist. But by the end of 2007, it started to become clear: If Wainwright had the ball and Molina was healthy, you could expect them to be working together.

Did Wainwright remember Bennett catching him? Yes

2008: Jason LaRue (five games, 26.1 innings), Mark Johnson (one game, six innings)

Johnson was a first-round pick by the White Sox in 1994. He made it to the bigs with Chicago in 1998 before bouncing around with a few organizations over the course of a 17-year career that included 472 games in Triple-A (compared to 332 in the bigs). With the Cardinals out of postseason contention by late September, Johnson caught one Wainwright start vs. Arizona in a game that also featured a young right-hander named Max Scherzer.

Did Wainwright remember Johnson catching him? Maybe. At one point, Wainwright pondered: "There's a guy that we had … real quick in 2008?" But he could not come up with the name. Perhaps he was thinking of Johnson.

2009: Jason LaRue (one game, five innings)

After eight seasons with the division-rival Reds, LaRue spent the final three years of his career in St. Louis and logged 65 starts behind the plate. Only four came with Wainwright on the mound, and all of those took place in 2008. LaRue also came in for Molina twice with Wainwright on the mound: once in 2008, when Molina was ejected for arguing balls and strikes while catching and once in 2009, when a Clint Barmes foul ball knocked him out of the game in the fourth.

Did Wainwright remember LaRue catching him? No, and he was not pleased about it. "I can't believe I didn't get LaRue!" he bemoaned as he walked out of the clubhouse.

2010: Matt Pagnozzi (two games, 14 innings)

After six years in the minors, Pagnozzi made his MLB debut with the Cardinals in 2009 and then hit well (.892 OPS in 44 plate appearances) as a September call-up in 2010. His two chances to catch Wainwright came in a Sunday day game after Molina caught a complete game the night before and then again a week later, after Molina had shut it down for the season with the Cardinals out of playoff contention.

Did Wainwright remember Pagnozzi catching him? Yes

2011: No one

Despite Molina being healthy the entire season and starting 131 games behind the plate for a team that went on to win the World Series, he didn't have the chance to catch his favorite batterymate that year. Elbow discomfort during spring training ultimately resulted in Tommy John surgery for Wainwright, which knocked him out for the entire season.

2012: Tony Cruz (six games, 31 innings)

This was the beginning of what we will affectionately refer to as the Tony Cruz Era, a four-year span during which Cruz amassed more time catching Wainwright than any non-Molina catcher. Cruz made his MLB debut in 2011, when Wainwright was rehabbing, and his first game catching Wainwright came in a Thursday day game vs. the Reds in April 2012, after Molina caught nine innings the night before. That was the first of 17 regular-season starts Wainwright made with Cruz behind the plate over the next four years.

Cruz is also notable for being the only catcher besides Molina to catch Wainwright in the postseason. The first time was Game 5 of the 2014 NLCS, when Cruz started at catcher after Molina strained his oblique in Game 2. Wainwright pitched well, but it was all for naught, thanks to one heroic swing from Travis Ishikawa.

Cruz also caught Wainwright twice in the 2015 NLDS, when Wainwright was coming out of the bullpen after missing much of the season due to an Achilles injury. When Molina aggravated a thumb injury from earlier in the season during Game 3, Cruz entered the game and caught Wainwright in the sixth and seventh innings. He then started Game 4 and caught another two Wainwright innings after Molina was ruled out for the series.

Did Wainwright remember Cruz catching him? Of course! Cruz was the first name he recalled. 

2013: Tony Cruz (four games, 21.1 innings), Rob Johnson (two games, four innings)

One of 26 Montana-born players in MLB history, Johnson spent most of his career with Seattle but finished with St. Louis in 2013. He caught Wainwright twice, and the first was one of the worst starts of Wainwright’s career: It was one of the three times he has allowed nine earned runs, and it registered his career-low Game Score of 4.

Did Wainwright remember Johnson catching him? No, but he insisted afterward, "I should have got that one."

2014: Tony Cruz (eight games, 52.2 innings), AJ Pierzynski (two games, 12.1 innings)

I don’t think I need to explain who Pierzynski is, though his stint with St. Louis is worth revisiting. He was released by the Red Sox on July 16 after posting a .633 OPS on a team going nowhere. At that point, his career could have been over.

Instead, Molina went down with a thumb injury, prompting the Cardinals to scoop up the 37-year-old Pierzynski and immediately put him behind the plate, including for Wainwright starts July 27 and Aug. 1. Six years later, we got to see these two work together in the broadcast booth — perhaps not for the last time!

Did Wainwright remember Pierzynski catching him? Yes

2015: Tony Cruz (one game, four innings), Travis Tartamella (two games, two innings), Ed Easley (one game, one inning)

Wainwright missed most of the 2015 season due to an Achilles injury, but he still managed to add two names to this list. It took Easley eight years to reach MLB after the D-backs took him 61st overall in the 2007 draft, and he appeared in four total big-league games, all with St. Louis at the end of 2015, and one inning with Wainwright. 

Tartamella also made his MLB debut in September 2015 and ultimately appeared in three MLB games. In the first, he got his first career hit on the first pitch he saw. In the other two, he caught an inning apiece from Wainwright. Not bad for a three-game big-league career!

Did Wainwright remember Tartamella catching him? No. "Tartamella caught me?" he replied incredulously.

Did Wainwright remember Easley catching him? No. Can you blame him?

2016: No one

In his age-33 season, Molina set career highs in games played (146) and innings behind the plate (1,218.1). His 142 starts at catcher in 2016 have not been topped since (and might never be) and rank eighth-most for a catcher this century, behind five Jason Kendall seasons, 2007 Russell Martin and 2014 Salvador Pérez.

In turn, this was the only season in which Yadi caught 100% of Wainwright’s innings — all 198.2 across 33 starts. For all their continuity and consistency over the years, this is the duo’s only complete season together.

2017: Eric Fryer (three games, 18.1 innings)

A 10th-round pick by the Brewers in 2007, Fryer made his MLB debut with the Pirates in 2011 and played with the Twins from 2013 to ‘15. He signed with the Cardinals going into 2016, but Molina’s epic workload meant Fryer wasn’t needed much, and he was claimed off waivers by Pittsburgh in July.

That winter, however, the Cardinals decided to bring Fryer back as depth for 2017, with 22-year-old catching prospect Carson Kelly not quite ready to take over as the primary backup. Fryer went on to make 15 starts at catcher for the Cardinals, three of them with Wainwright, including the second game of a doubleheader vs. the Blue Jays in April and a June start while Molina had back issues that kept him out for several games. 

Did Wainwright remember Fryer catching him? Yes, and when told where Fryer ranks in terms of innings, he added: "That’s funny he’s sixth with just three games."

2018: Francisco Peña (one game, seven innings), Carson Kelly (two games, 7.1 innings)

The son of five-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove catcher Tony Peña, Francisco’s MLB résumé is far shorter than his father’s, but he did link up with Wainwright for a Wednesday day game in April after Molina caught 11 innings the night before.

Although he appeared in only 86 major-league games from 2014 to ‘18, Peña is best known for his ongoing presence on Aguilas Cibaeñas of the Dominican Winter League. In fact, he’s essentially the Aguilas version of Yadier Molina, having appeared in more than 550 games for the Santiago-based club since his LIDOM debut back in 2008.

Kelly, meanwhile, was arguably the first catcher considered a legitimate heir apparent for Molina as he entered his late-30s — an age when most catchers, you know, stop catching. Drafted out of an Oregon high school by St. Louis in the second round in 2012, Kelly developed into one of the better catching prospects in the league. 

But Molina, of course, is not most catchers and never relinquished his grip on the starting job even as Kelly ascended. And so St. Louis included Kelly in the blockbuster trade with Arizona to acquire Paul Goldschmidt.

Did Wainwright remember Francisco Peña catching him? No, though he contended, "I would have gotten him eventually." He also asked if Brayan Peña ever caught him, but the 19 innings Brayan caught for the 2016 Cardinals never aligned with Wainwright. 

Other guesses from Wainwright of former Cardinals catchers who never caught him included Einar Díaz (299 innings in 2005), Kelly Stinnett (203 innings in 2007) and Cody Stanley (six innings in 2015). Peña, Díaz, Stinnett and Stanley are four of 16 catchers who have appeared behind the plate for the Cardinals since 2005 but never with Wainwright on the bump. 

Did Wainwright remember Kelly catching him? Yes

2019: Matt Wieters (two games, 11.1 innings), Andrew Knizner (six games, 33 innings)

As Molina marched on — catcher aging curve be damned — a new possible successor emerged in Knizner, the Cardinals’ seventh-round pick in 2016. Knizner was a third baseman at NC State before he converted to catcher as a sophomore, which drastically increased his appeal for MLB teams. His offense also ticked up significantly in pro ball, as he hit .303/.369/.461 in 308 minor-league games before becoming Yadi’s primary backup in 2019.

Knizner’s bat has yet to translate much at all at the big-league level, so it’s unclear if St. Louis views him as a possible everyday catcher in a post-Yadi world or if this backup role suits his skill set best.

Wieters, who failed to avoid the catcher aging curve the way Molina miraculously has, caught Wainwright twice that summer, both times while Molina was on the IL due to a right thumb injury.

Did Wainwright remember Wieters catching him? Yes

2020: Andrew Knizner (one game, five innings)

Molina caught all but one of Wainwright’s starts in the abbreviated 2020 season, as he was out for a bit after testing positive for COVID-19. Knizner stepped in for that one start.

2021: Andrew Knizner (two games, 11.2 innings)

The notion that Molina and Wainwright could break Lolich and Freehan’s battery record didn’t truly feel possible until last season, when the two logged 30 starts together in their age-38 and age-39 seasons. Knizner caught Wainwright’s other two outings, once in May when Molina was on the IL due to a tendon strain in his right foot and another at the end of September, when the Cardinals’ postseason position was fairly secure.

2022: Andrew Knizner (six games, 38 innings), Ivan Herrera (one game, seven innings), Austin Romine (one game, 5.1 innings)

Herrera — the latest prospect to be held up as a possible Molina successor — became the youngest player to catch Wainwright in the big leagues when he caught seven scoreless innings against the Marlins a few weeks after his 22nd birthday.

On the flip side, it feels fitting that Austin Romine — the quintessential backup catcher — is the final catcher on this list, with his Wainwright start caught earlier this season during a brief stint with the Cardinals while Molina was on the IL due to right knee inflammation.

Did Wainwright remember Knizner catching him? Yes

Did Wainwright remember Herrera catching him? Yes

Did Wainwright remember Romine catching him? No

And there you have it: the complete history of Wainwright’s non-Yadi catchers.

Even with the various IL stints here and there, Wainwright knows how much his partner has endured to allow them to be in position to break this record.

"He's played through a lot of stuff," Wainwright said. "There's been a lot of times when he probably should have sat out, especially the last couple of years. Now we know we're going for something, either one of us, we're not sitting out for anything."

The best records are the ones that are difficult to fathom being broken. This one very much fits in that category, and it’s just another way for us to appreciate these two remarkable careers as they come to a close.

Jordan Shusterman is half of @CespedesBBQ and a baseball writer for FOX Sports. Follow him on Twitter @j_shusterman_.

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Jordan Shusterman