page_title: Yadier Molina
section_title: 2016
hierarchical_section_title: Yadier Molina / St. Louis Cardinals (2004–present) / 2016
caption_attribution_description: English: Cardinals catcher Yadi Molina rounds second.
context_page_description: Yadier Benjamin Molina, nicknamed "Yadi", is a Puerto Rican professional baseball catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball. He has played his entire 17-year major league career with the Cardinals since his debut on June 3, 2004, and also for the Puerto Rican national team in four World Baseball Classic tournaments. Widely considered one of the greatest defensive catchers of all time, Molina is the recipient of a number of accolades, including nine Rawlings Gold Gloves and six Fielding Bible Awards. A two-time World Series champion, he is a paramount figure in ten Cardinals playoff appearances and four National League pennants, and a two-time silver medalist with Puerto Rico. Molina bats and throws right-handed, stands 5 feet 11 inches tall, and weighs 205 pounds.
  Molina ranks second all-time among catchers with 130 Defensive Runs Saved, and first among active catchers with 845 assists, 40.21% of runners caught stealing which is 213 all-time, and 55 pickoffs. He also ranks in the top 70 among catchers in history in each of fielding percentage, games played, double plays turned, and assists.
context_section_description: At age 33, Molina broke the Cardinals' all-time games caught record on April 8, 2016, in his 1,440th game, passing Ted Simmons (1968–80). His 1,343 games started since the beginning of the 2005 season was the highest total in the major leagues. He made his 1,500th career major league appearance on May 14 in a 5–3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. While playing the Washington Nationals in the seventh inning of a 2–1 loss at Nationals Park on May 26, Stephen Drew hit a high infield fly that stayed over the pitcher's mound. With both Aledmys Díaz and Mike Leake attempting to catch the ball, Molina posited himself and waited. As the ball deflected off Díaz' glove, he almost collided with Leake, but Molina instinctively moved his glove and caught the ball before it hit the ground. He recorded his 1,500th career hit on July 2 against Milwaukee, becoming the 34th catcher in MLB history, and second for the Cardinals, after Simmons.
  Molina's ninth-inning, RBI double, tied the July 27 game against the New York Mets at 4−4, ending Jeurys Familia’s consecutive-saves streak of 52, the third-longest in major league history. His tenth-inning double against Milwaukee on August 30, his 30th of the season and 300th of his career, helped lead the Cardinals to a 2–1 victory. He caught a career-high 146 games. After starting with a .256 average through 85 games, Molina batted .365 from July 8 to the end of the season, and overall hit .307, eight home runs, 58 RBI, and led all major league catchers with 164 hits and 38 doubles. His hit total was also a career-high, leading the club, and he was eighth in the league in batting and ninth in doubles.
caption: Molina digging for third in 2016.
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