Yadier Molina Passes Ivan Rodriguez for Most Putouts By a Catcher in MLB History
Yadier Molina continues to make history on a daily basis for the St. Louis Cardinals and on Tuesday, he did something that made him stand alone atop Major League Baseball's record books.
In the sixth inning on Tuesday afternoon's game, Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Ke'Bryan Hayes stepped to the plate with one runner on and no outs.
Pittsburgh was trailing 3-0 at the time, so a big hit from Hayes could have cut into the lead and swung momentum in favor of the Pirates.
He ended up popping out in foul territory right to Molina, who secured his 14,865th career putout as a catcher, breaking Ivan Rodriguez's record for most putouts by a catcher in MLB history.
Tuesday was Molina's 2,193rd game in his career and over the length of his career, he's averaged roughly 6.75 putouts a game and well over 700 a season.
Like Pudge, Yadi has been able to play for nearly two decades and longevity is what allowed him to break this incredible record.
He's currently in the top five for hits and most games played as a catcher in MLB history, and while he likely won't break either of those records, he'll finish his career amongst the best to ever do it at the position.
St. Louis defeated Pittsburgh, 3-1 in the game, thanks in large part to an early homer from NL MVP candidate Paul Goldschmidt.
The win improves the Cardinals record to 36-27 as they currently sit 1.5 games up on the Milwaukee Brewers for first place in the NL Central.
St. Louis has two more games against the Pirates in this four game series and after winning the first two, their sights are very much set on a series sweep.
Molina will be able to build upon his record over those next two games and for the rest of this season, his final season in Major League Baseball.
