Padres' Yu Darvish, Martin Maldonado Make Insane History

If it seems like San Diego Padres pitcher Yu Darvish and catcher Martin Maldonado have been playing forever, it's because they have — at least by modern standards.

Maldonado debuted in September 2011 with the Milwaukee Brewers. Darvish made his MLB debut the following season with the Texas Rangers, following seven outstanding seasons in his native Japan.

Coincidentally, the two teammates share a birthday: Aug. 16, 1986. Monday marked the first time the 38-year-olds have been on the field as batterymates.

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Maldonado became the 19th different catcher Darvish has thrown to in his career, joining a who's-who list of backstops that includes Yasmani Grandal, A.J. Pierzynski and Jonathan Lucroy. It's the first time either man has been batterymates with a birthdaymate in a major league game.

In fact, the list of pitcher-catcher combos who have shared a birthday is incredibly short. According to Sarah Langs of MLB.com, Darvish and Maldonado became the first pitcher/catcher of the same age (to the day) since Josh Smith and Ryan Lavarnway in 2020, and just the 13th such pair since 1900.

They join:
2020 Josh A. Smith/Ryan Lavarnway (1987-08-07), 1 GS
2018 Jacob deGrom/Devin Mesoraco (1988-06-19), 21
1998 Jeff Juden/Phil Nevin (1971-01-19), 1995-98 Bobby Jones/Alberto Castillo (1970-02-10), 9
1997 Scott Sanders/Dan Wilson (1969-03-25), 6
1996 Paul Menhart/Dan…
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) July 7, 2025

The full list, per Langs:

• 2020 Josh A. Smith/Ryan Lavarnway (1987-08-07), 1 GS
• 2018 Jacob deGrom/Devin Mesoraco (1988-06-19), 21
• 1998 Jeff Juden/Phil Nevin (1971-01-19)
• 1995-98 Bobby Jones/Alberto Castillo (1970-02-10), 9
• 1997 Scott Sanders/Dan Wilson (1969-03-25), 6
• 1996 Paul Menhart/Dan Wilson (1969-03-25), 5
• 1995 Mark Petkovsek/Scott Hemond (1965-11-18), 2
• 1957 Dave Hillman/Jim Fanning (1927-09-14), 4
• 1942 Ed Hanyzewski/Paul Gillespie (1920-09-18), 1
• 1941 Johnny Gee/Vinnie Smith (1915-12-07), 1
• 1926 Charlie Robertson/Pinky Hargrave (1896-01-31), 3
• 1919-22 Eric Erickson/Patsy Gharrity (1892-03-13), 56

None of the previous dozen members of the exclusive list were Padres, so it's a first in franchise history as well. It might not be a last, either.

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Monday marked Darvish's first regular-season start of 2025 after missing more than three months with elbow inflammation. He took the loss in the Arizona Diamondbacks' 6-3 victory over the Padres at Petco Park.

Darvish allowed two runs, both earned, in 3.2 innings, while walking three batters and striking out five.

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Darvish is coming off of a 3.31 ERA season across 81.2 innings of work. He tossed 78 strikeouts to 22 walks during this time, going 7-3 over his 16 starts.

Maldonado (47 games) and Elias Diaz (43) have started every game behind the plate for the Padres this season, and the tandem doesn't appear to be in jeopardy of breaking up, barring an unexpected trade. We could see the birthday-sharing battery start for the Padres again soon.

For more Padres news, head over to Padres on SI.