Adam Wainwright is one of the best pitchers in MLB over the last decade-plus. As is expected with players who have played for any length of time, injuries crop up and take you out, you have difficult seasons where it just won't go right. That has happened to Wainwright for sure, losing nearly three full seasons over the last 17 years with the St. Louis Cardinals.

However, given immense talent, craftiness and sheer will, he's managed to stick around and be unbelievably effective as one of the oldest guys in the league.

Left For Dead

For nearly four years from 2016-19, it was rough for Wainwright. In 2015, he tore his achilles while in the batters box which cost him almost the entire season. That set him on a road to get back to form in 2016 which did not go according to plan. He threw almost 200 innings and gave up the most hits and earned runs in the National League.

That trend continued for the next few years, showing signs of his greatness from years past but inconsistent and volatile. For that four year span:

• He started 95 games with an ERA of 4.58

• 1.44 WHIP

• Gave up nearly 10 hits per nine innings

Not good numbers.

The Reset

The world stopped in 2020 due to the pandemic and that seemed to give Wainwright a needed breather and reset moment. As you get into your mid-30s as a baseball player, your clock is ticking. Especially as a pitcher, there's not many that last into their late 30s anymore, let alone starting pitchers.

2020 was a shortened 60-game season but he started to show a revamped approach that saw him throwing fewer pitches, going deeper into games and giving up fewer runs. He moved more towards doing what old crafty veterans need to do, be a crafty veteran. The upper 90s fastball does not exist anymore, now it tops out at 91 or 92 which is very hittable. Using all of the off speed pitches like his devastating 12-6 curveball to offset that fastball makes it so much quicker. Not relying on the strikeout but inducing more ground ball outs is the ticket now and Wainwright is executing with unexpected effectiveness.

Back to Form

From 2008 to 2014, Adam Wainwright was the ace of aces. He finished in the top-3 of the Cy Young award voting, the award for the best pitcher in the American and National League, four times in five years. In six seasons, his ERA was a sparkling 2.87 across 1,200-plus innings. People put too much onus on ERA but that's an easy one to see how phenomenal that is over more than half a decade.

The 2020 Wainwright looks vastly different in his approach but is getting remarkably similar results to the old days. In 2021, at 39 years old:

• Threw 206 innings, third most in the league

• His 3.05 ERA was just outside the top-10 in the league

• Led the league with three complete games

• Nearly eight strikeouts per nine innings

Those are great numbers for any pitcher, let alone a guy with 16 years experience in MLB. His 2022 thus far, is mirroring last season where he was the best pitcher on the St. Louis Cardinals roster, registering 14 quality starts this year. That's 14 starts where he has gone at least six innings and given up three or fewer runs. Much younger touted prospects and players like Jack Flaherty, Jordan Hicks, John Gant and the hopeful resurgence of Carlos Martinez fell away as Wainwright blew them out of the water in terms of performance last season and continues to do it this season.

The only player that has been nearly as effective across the season is Miles Mikolas but he's starting to slip while Wainwright remains. 40-years old and he's leading the rotation of a playoff bound team. Remarkable. And if you had asked anyone if Adam Wainwright would still be around in a rotation at the age of 40 a few years ago, let alone leading a team, it's safe to say most would think he'd be retired and in the tv booth by now.

Will this be the last year of Wainwright? Let's hope not. Someone performing at this level and sustaining it at his age has a place on any roster so the Cardinals would be insane not to bring him back if he wants to keep it going.

Mound Visit

Saints Sports Network is a Christian group that brings you interesting sports coverage. Our name comes from Ephesians 2:18-21 where it notes that all Christians are saints in God's eyes. Therefore we are saints who write about sports but also want to make sure to share the Gospel. That's where Mound Visit comes into play because we all need a visit to the mound from God in good times and bad to recenter our lives and trust in him. We'll do that by highlighting a Bible verse for you to think and pray about in each newsletter that you receive from us.