The Cardinals announced Wednesday that they’ve placed right-hander Adam Wainwright and catcher Andrew Knizner on the injured list and optioned righty James Naile to Triple-A Memphis. Wainwright lands on the 15-day IL due to a shoulder strain — as manager Oli Marmol indicated last night — while Knizner heads to the 10-day IL after taking a foul ball to the groin in last night’s game. In a series of corresponding moves, St. Louis recalled catcher Ivan Herrera, righty Dakota Hudson and lefty Zack Thompson from Memphis.
Wainwright, 41, has had a disastrous start to the final season of an otherwise exceptional career. Through his first 11 starts, he’s been clobbered for a 7.66 ERA in 51 1/3 frames, with a career-worst 11% strikeout rate, a career-low 86.3 mph average fastball velocity, a career-high 1.74 HR/9 mark and a 7.5% walk rate that registers as his highest level since 2019.
Those struggles notwithstanding, Wainwright emphasized to reporters that he believes he’ll pitch again this season and that he has more left in the tank (link via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). However, after declaring his plan to return this season, Wainwright also candidly acknowledged that he simply isn’t healthy enough to pitch up to expectations right now.
“I’ve come back from much worse, much worse — but it is impacting my stuff,” Wainwright told the Cardinals beat (via Goold). “…There’s no denying it. Can’t hide it. I can talk myself into anything. I’ve done that a lot. I’ve made a career out of it. Right now, it’s not fair for me to put the team in that spot.”
Knizner, 28, was down for a spell after the unfortunately placed foul-tip last night but initially remained in the game. He eventually was pulled from the contest and transported to a local emergency room for further evaluation, He was eventually released last night, per Goold, and the team will likely provide an update with additional details on his status later today.
In 35 games and 115 plate appearances this year, Knizner has served as the primary backup to Willson Contreras. He’s shown some pop, already swatting a career-high five homers while turning in a career-best .191 ISO (slugging minus batting average). However, Knizner is hitting .227/.254/.418 on the whole, and he’s seen both his walk and strikeout rates (3.5% and 28.7%, respectively), careen in the wrong direction this year.
Herrera, 23, has more than earned a look in the big leagues, slashing .308/.432/.557 in 227 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. A well-regarded catching prospect, he was long expected to be Yadier Molina’s heir in St. Louis before the Cards bucked expectations and signed Contreras to a five-year contract this past offseason.
Hudson, 28, lost his rotation spot late last year and hasn’t won it back in 2023 despite considerable problems on the Cardinals’ starting staff. The sinker specialist has started 11 games in Memphis but is sitting on a 6.00 ERA through just 48 innings. His ground-ball rate is a strong 53.7%, and his 7.5% walk rate is also better than average, but Hudson’s 17.3% strikeout rate is below average. A .416 average on balls in play points to some rotten luck, but such issues are only magnified when a pitcher can’t miss bats at even an average level.
Oli needs to go
The Cardinals also needed to send Jojo Romero to the minors or designate him for assignment. We traded Edmundo Sosa and that was another trade that we lost. At the trade deadline if we do sell which by now is very clear that is the direction we are going the Cards need to focus acquiring young relievers and possibly starting pitchers. I like the farm system of the Orioles maybe we can get a few players from them.
They’re too stubborn to trade the players who will actually net significant returns. Trade Goldy.
“possibly starting pitchers?”
The Cardinals desperately need frontline SP. Montgomery is at best a #2, everyone else is a #3-#6 or worse.
I wonder if Yadier Molina would consider managing the Cardinals…
Hell, even him as a bench coach. Just some way to have the guy’s brain there would probably be beneficial.
I wonder how thoroughly the Card FO second guesses themselves for dishing out that contract to Contreras. Rolling with Herrera and Knizner in hindsight would have been so much better for the pitching staff and morale.
Wonder how much they second guess not giving Oakland Lars Nootbaar, Brendan Donovan, and Gordon Graceffo for Murphy.
The cardinals always think they are the smartest team in the room.
Getting Murphy would have been great, but it seems that once they signed Contreras, their big deal of the off-season was done. They should’ve gone immediately for pitching. The SP was bad last year and has gotten even worse this season. It’s one thing where, the Dodgers, they felt they’re pitching staff was strong, then they’ve been decimated by injuries. They didn’t know they were going to lose so many arms. But the Cards knew as far back as last season they needed pitchers and a lot of them, yet they did nothing. Having Goldschmidt, Arenado and Contreras is good, but there’s only so much guys like that can outhit their pitching.
I doubt any decent candidates want the job until there are big changes in the front office.
He definitely impressed in the WBC. To me it seems like a no-brainer to have Molina replace Marmol, but God only knows what will play out with the FOs convoluted strategies.
Next Cardinals Loyalty Contract: Jason Heyward
This is going to be the next “make Oquendo the manager” request for the next 25 years. I doubt it ever happens and I’m not looking forward to seeing it posted 100 times per topic for the next 30 years.
Herrera was terrible when he was up last year. And also keep in mind all the minor league kids look great until they get to the majors. So in the tried and true Mozaliak way of not being able to replicate minor league success to major league success, Herrera will fail as well.
He wasn’t terrible last year. What did he have, like 11 at-bats during a couple games? You don’t need to exaggerate and dump on players like that. Focus your energies totally on management cuz that’s where the problems start and it’s where the solutions need to begin.
I believe Molina owns a championship team in Venezuela, so it will be a while before he gets home to the Cardinals.
Oliver Marmol isn’t the problem
Collusion is the problem… look at both the NL and AL central? These markets don’t matter anymore?
As far as the Roster moves go…. Ivan Herrera is the only one who rightfully earned a call up? Zack Thompson has a ERA over 9 in 30 Memphis innings? Dakota Husdon has an ERA over 6…
Sandy Alncantara and Zac Gallen must look like some strippers right now to John Mozeliak? Whos got a picture of this man in a dress? Or Bill DeWitt? He can afford Wilson Contreras but not a Cuban translator for Adolis Garcia and Randy Arozarena?
All you Cardinals fans realize this is why the team is where they are?
Collusion? Texas and Florida were more important than the Cardinals winning because they placing bets in Vegas?
Duh why else are the A’s moving to SIN CITY?
Houston Astrisks sign stealing scandal? Collusion between commissioner and owners to sweep a betting ring under the rug because placing bets on rigged outcomes is worth more than tickets sales, steaming, and TV CONTRACTS COMBINED!
Anyone know about the collusion between Johnson and the Yankees from 1950-1960?
Kansas City Athletics… here we are SPACE JAM repeating itself?
WTF?!
Look forward to seeing Herrera
Same. I thought Herrera should have had a more serious look in spring training. He only was given a couple games but in those games he showed he deserved a shot imo. I was also in the minority thinking the Cards should have gotten a short term stop gap catcher to wait for Herrera instead of Contreras, that way we could focus on pitching.
Regardless, I have a big hopes for Herrera and am excited to see him play in an otherwise unexciting and abysmal season.
But 85 million isn’t going to get much pitching!
Yeah you’re definitely right, but Wacha was signed to a pretty cheap deal. Eovaldi too? Could have had both of them. Of course, I know it’s easy to look back at who is performing well with a recent contract that wasn’t outrageous. But, the point is that they are there! We didn’t even try to get any pitching.
The old foul ball to the groin. That will get you every time. Nice they’re giving him 10 days in an ice whirlpool to shrink thinks up. More than most catchers get. Most get a ” Get back in there son”.
I think they also want a look at Herrera. He’s been doing well In Memphis.
You forgot the old, “rub some dirt in it, kid”
That’s the one injury you can’t do that to. At least not without a ring of teammates around you. I keep thinking of Virgil Livers and Ray Nitschke in The Longest yard.
Don’t forget spitting tobacco on it.
Tobacco on my jewels, NO THANKS.
If it was Contreras they probably would’ve given him a band-aid and thrown him back out there. Gently.
Poor Virgil thought it was a good idea to play pro football without a cup. Then he heard the diagnosis no man wants to hear. Ruptured Testicle. Made me cringe just typing it.
Waino deserves the chance to get his 200th win. The Cards have nothing to lose.
3-4 with a 5.89 FIP is not the end of the world, Before Waino’s last 3 starts he was 3-1 with a 4.88 FIP
The last few yrs in St Louis have been about nostalgia, not winning. They lead the league in sentiment, but nothing else really.
Sad but true. Please no more loyalty contract extensions after Waino’s last year. Mo needs to learn to stop paying aging players for past success. Also just pay down the contract and trade Contreras to whomever will take him.
They still own him 70 million over the next 4 years. They’re not just going to pay that down, not to mention he has a full no trade for the next three years. Willson Contreras is not the problem with the cardinals.
I don’t think the Contreras no trade clause will be an issue after the way he’s been treated.
Contreras has been hitting as of late as was expected. Still would be great to see Herrera play to set his trade value.
All the Herrera trade talk seems insane to me. I don’t think it will happen. He is the future catcher.
The cubs?
Contreras is the catcher. Herrera will and should be dealt.
At least for the next 5 years anyway.
Contreras won’t even catch half the games after next season. Herrera is the future.
Knizner and his remaining nut can be traded. We can keep Contreras and Herrera as our hispanic catching tandem.
And that trend isn’t ending as long as Mo is calling the shots. They’ve already said they’re not trading Goldschmidt and that they intend to extend him this winter. At some point Mo will weep because he has no other iconic veterans to extend or bring back.
Yeah this team is done. Might as well get Waino to 200 and send him into retirement.
This is a sad shell of an organization in a sad shell of a division.
I don’t think it was a waste of time to let Pujols get his 700th in a Cardinals uniform. Would you feel better if he got it in an Angel’s uniform? When he goes into the HOF in 2027, he isn’t going to be wearing a Dodgers or Angels cap on his plague.
Man, this Wainwright situation is hard to watch play out. I hope he’s right. I hope he comes back and gets those last two wins, but it really looks like it’s just over. Just like our season.
Waino’s collapse may be hard to watch, but it should have been extremely easy to foresee, which is precisely why the organization shouldn’t have wasted another $17.5mil on someone they should have known is clearly not the best option they could have found.
I know most folks won’t like what I’m going to say (like the rest of my comments) but I don’t mind seeing Waino fail over and over. He came back for selfish reasons when he KNEW he’s basically done, and that decision alone is enough for me to stop liking him. He should have left with his buddies. He was going to be a Cardinal HOF with or without 200. I guess he’s hoping for the MLB HOF, which again is extremely selfish (with nothing left to offer) especially from a marginal player whose best attribute in his “twilight years” has been clowning around in the dugout/clubhouse. Just my opinion
If you were that close to 200 wins, wouldn’t you want to have a chance to get it? Nobody, not even Wainwright, could have known how bad this season was going to be, but it’s not all him. Would the Cards be better if Wainwright didn’t play this year? Probably not with the way the Cards FO did nothing to improve their pitching. Waino will get his 200th this season and close his career on a personal high note.
If he came back for a cheap price (very cheap) like Albert did, I could cut him some slack, especially if he were more realistic about his ability… of course I understand why 200 is so special these days, since the bar just keeps lowering for a bunch of athletes who are supposedly better than ever before (I don’t believe that) while they make more money than they ever have. Yes, I definitely think the Cards could have been a little better this season without him. I will be glad when he’s gone, and I won’t miss him at all.. I’ve already turned that page, just waiting for it to become reality.
Athletes in every sport are better than ever. Knowledge and training continue to progress. Starting pitchers don’t get as many wins as they used to because teams have realized the best way to win is to bring in the 100-mph bullpen arms after about five innings. Pitchers get hurt so often because they are approaching the limit of what the human body can handle in terms of velocity and spin.
Foul ball to the jewels… am I mistaken or didn’t he have a similar injury last season?
Have to admit it will be fun watching Wainright follow in Jake Arrieta’s footsteps
ISO is only used for propping up players who hit for a poor average
ISO shows a player’s power and is more valuable than BA, which is of very limited use.
A 200/300/400 slash creates the same ISO as a 300/400/500 slash. Are we to expect those players to produce similarly? Or would you say a 200/300/400 is a better hitter than a 250/300/400 because their ISO is better?
95% of the time OBP & SLG is sufficient. A high BA is good if you need to get a runner in from third base, maybe a fast runner from second, late in the game.
Or if you want to win a batting title.
Just because some people 100 years ago decided something is important and should be lauded doesn’t mean it should be now.
Luis Arraez on line one, sir.
He’s just a novelty at this point. Singing the national anthem, filming old man walks, running a corrupt fantasy football league, making up hamburger phones, and adopting more kids for publicity. Hope he gets stuck at 199 and decides he wants to comeback again next year
Wow you sound like a fun guy. He has been bad this year, but DO NOT insult a man’s family or his intentions. Grow the eff up.
Hope all that karma comes back to you soon.
While many have seen this coming, amazingly the two people who can possibly do something about it — Mo and DeWallet — have not.
Firing Marmol is certainly justifiable. I’m not really sure that gets to the core of the issues though. Poor decisions by ownership and the front office are. I can’t really see this getting better until Mo is gone. And Mo makes DeWallet a lot of money. I can’t see that happening.
So the long decline will continue. Faster this season than previous ones, but the decline is here and real.
That real decline is why the team should rebuild by trading the over thirty players for valuable young pitchers. The players will gladly waive the no trade to go to legitimate contenders.
Go Redbirds, beat up on Cubs & Sox
“Wainwright is currently sitting on 195 career wins and will certainly crack the 200 plateau as long as he’s able to stay healthy. He is setting his sights higher than that, however. “The number I’m looking at is not 200, the number is 210,” Wainwright said, per Jones. Getting to 210 would allow Wainwright to tie Jesse Haines for second place on the all-time Cardinals list, behind only Bob Gibson’s 251. Wainwright also added that he would like to catch John Smoltz, who logged 213 career victories.”
Some Oct. 2022 prescient comments.
mlbtraderumors.com/2022/10/adam-wainwright-plannin…
In all fairness, the Cardinals do a LOT of things right, which is why they’ve had so few losing seasons and been successful despite their market size and upper middle payroll. For that reason, it makes sense not to just clean house.
I do think DeWitt needs to step in however and have a long talk with Mozeliak. Can Mo justify his moves in recent years? Aside from the salary dump acquisitions of Goldy and Arenado, can MO say he’s gotten fair value in almost ANY trade he’s made? Can he say he’s spent DeWitt’s money well when shopping on the free agent market, with the sole exception of their far eastern scouting recommendations (Mikolas, Oh, etc)? Can he justify firing Schildt and replacing him with Marmol, and a coaching staff that lacks any track record? Those are the questions I’d want to hear Mozeliak answer, and for the life of me, I can’t imagine what he can say in his defense.
I always thought the Shildt firing was a knee-jerk reaction due to the fact that Oli was starting to get looked at by other teams for managing jobs, and they were afraid to lose him. Also, if Shildt was such a great manager, why has no one hired him as a manager yet?
Why did they hire Marmol instead of Schumaker??
Of I remember correctly, Schumacher was not available at the time but I can’t remember why.
Montgomery, Flaherty, Hicks, and Stratton. Who else is gone by the deadline?
O’Neill. One way or another. They need to clear the logjam. Probably Yepez, Gomez, and Knizner as well. No real path to playing time for any of them unless it’s Herrera instead of Kniz.
I’m sure all the ones you mention will be gone before next year. I’m not so sure any of them will go by the deadline. The free agents need to be moved. Montgomery is worth more than a draft pick. I wouldn’t give any of the rest a qualifying offer so get what you can. It’s better than nothing.
Trade O’Neill for a song just to get out from under all the medical bills.
Adam Wainwright is a Cardinal great, a major league great, it’s been tough watching him recently, everybody gets old.
Well don’t expect any move. Losing 3 managers in 4 years is a slap in the face, nobody wants to manage here. You can speculate all you want the signs there every year we won’t make any moves