St. Louis Cardinals: Will 2019 be Adam Wainwright’s Final Season?
Early Thursday afternoon, the St. Louis Cardinals signed Adam Wainwright to a one-year contract for 2019. Could this be his last season?
Early Thursday afternoon, the St. Louis Cardinals announced that they’ve resigned Adam Wainwright to a one-year contract for the 2019 season. 2019 will be Wainwright’s 15th Major League season, all played with the St. Louis Cardinals. The 37-year-old righty is coming off an injury-plagued 2018 where he only managed to throw 40.1 innings. Wainwright’s age and injury history leaves us wondering, could 2019 be his final season?
Wainwright first hit the disabled list in mid-April. Elbow inflammation sidelined the righty after only throwing 15.1 innings. After a short comeback, reoccurring elbow inflammation sidelined Wainwright again for another four months.
Adam Wainwright hasn’t been able to avoid the injury bug. The righty spent time on the disabled list six times over the past four seasons, thus resulting in Wainwright only starting 68 games since 2015. He has missed nearly half of his potential starts.
Wainwright’s effectiveness has also waned. He has posted an ERA of 4.77 and an ERA+ of 86 from 2016-2018.
Cardinals President of Baseball Operations, John Mozeliak, is optimistic about Wainwright’s return. (Via MLB.com. )
“Adam has proven, when healthy, that he still has the ability and the drive to contribute at the highest level,” Mozeliak said. “We saw it in Spring Training, and again late in the season, that once he had overcome his ailments, he was prepared to give us a winning effort every time he took the mound. There is risk, but it is shared, and this deal gives us added depth as we look to 2019.”
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In the end, this risk could pay off. The legendary Cardinals’ righty showed signs of life late in 2018. Wainwright is far from his former dominant self, but his velocity resurfaced to around 90 MPH, levels that we have not seen since late 2016, early 2017.
While Wainwright’s “historical” value to the Cardinals may earn him a rotation spot at the beginning of the season, this “rejuvenated” fastball might help turn him into a useful reliever. The team is in need of bullpen help and Wainwright has been a useful reliever in the past.
In the end, the Cardinals have a plethora of starting pitching. This depth allows management to take a risk on the aging former star.
Next. Cardinals were nearly in Houston or Milwaukee. dark
If 2019 goes well, it is very reasonable to assume that we will see Adam Wainwright back in a Cardinals’ uniform for 2020. However, if injuries continue to plague him, 2019 may be the end of the line for this legendary arm.