The Cardinals put veteran right-hander Adam Wainwright on the 15-day injured list today, with manager Oli Marmol citing “a variety of limitations” to reporters (including The Athletic’s Katie Woo) regarding the reason for Wainwright’s placement on the shelf. Woo added that the official designation for Wainwright’s IL stint was shoulder inflammation, while MLB.com’s John Denton noted that Wainwright made clear that he intends to return before the end of the season.
Wainwright, 41, is currently in the midst of his twentieth season as a member of the Cardinals organization and his eighteenth pitching for the big league club. After posting the numbers of a solid middle of the rotation starter over the past few seasons, with a 3.57 ERA and 3.90 FIP in 635 1/3 innings since the start of the 2019 campaign, the wheels have fallen off for the veteran hurler in 2023. Through ten starts this season, Wainwright has posted a ghastly 7.45 ERA that’s 41% worse than league average by measure of ERA+ with a 5.47 FIP. His strikeout rate has dropped from 17.8% last season to a measly 10.7% figure this season, a figure that’s actually lower than his sky-high barrel rate of 10.9%.
With Wainwright headed to the IL, the Cardinals figure to look toward one of Steven Matz or Dakota Hudson to join the starting rotation in Wainwright’s stead. Matz has struggled to a 5.72 ERA in ten starts this season, but has shown signs of life since moving to the bullpen with an excellent 1.98 ERA in 13 2/3 innings of work as a multi-inning relief arm. Hudson, meanwhile, has spent most of the 2023 campaign in the minors with an unsightly 6.00 ERA in 48 Triple-A innings, but the righty impressed with 2 2/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen recently, a performance that could earn Hudson another look on the major league pitching staff.
More from the National League…
- Dodgers right-hander Noah Syndergaard could return in the near future, as manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Jack Harris of the LA Times) that Syndergaard is scheduled to throw live batting practice later this week and that, if it goes well, he could advance to a rehab assignment shortly thereafter. Syndergaard struggled mightily to a 7.12 ERA with a 5.55 FIP across 12 starts prior to his placement on the injured list a month ago. Despite those ugly numbers, if Syndergaard has managed to get right during his time on the shelf, he could be an asset to a Dodgers rotation that recently saw Clayton Kershaw head to the IL and Dustin May’s season end with an impending elbow surgery.
- Marlins center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. went on the injured list yesterday with a left oblique strain just a week after returning from a six week IL stint due to turf toe. Fortunately for Miami the young outfielder, Chisholm’s MRI results came back today and showed only a mild strain, per Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. That’s excellent news, as mild strains can often be resolved fairly quickly. Chisholm will have the upcoming All Star break to rest and rehab and while no timetable for his return has been announced, it’s possible the 25 year old could return to big league action shortly thereafter.
“Waino”, Adam Wainwright, hung on for far too long and his team is now paying the price.
Nonsense. This year has been bad but 3 years prior were quite good. He’s toast but he’s hung around 10 starts too long as it stands today.
Wainwright is two wins away from 200 wins in his career. Might be a milestone he wants to achieve. The club in 11.5 games out of the central. He could get more starts for bright moment in a bad season for the Cards.
The stat-crazed generation. He needs to quit whether he has 198, 199 or 200 wins. He isn’t responsible for the Cards lousy year, but he certainly isn’t helping them any. Retire while you still have a shred of dignity.
This goes beyond the current generation – milestone chasing has been a thing for a long time
Who are you to say what dignity he has. What is your problem man? Shred of dignity? Dude won the Roberto Clemente award for his work outside of baseball. He has plenty of dignity, even if one of his seasons wasn’t up to your par.
Stop posting stupid stuff. If you want to blame someone blame the people that have him the contract. Not the dude who signed it.
I guess your way better generation was all about quitting. A bunch of quitters in your generation, eh?
I’m sorry but Molina showed how to retire with class last year. Wainwright is just another on a long list of former stars that showed he knew more about the human body and baseball than the experts and the numerous players from years past. Sometimes you get a Julio Franco or Nolan Ryan but way more often than not you get John Smoltz. Most players realize this. Some players show their ego when they turn 40. It’s not like it snuck up on him either. Although still passable last year, his stats were half of what they were the year before. Baseball was kind to him last year and showed him it was time to retire. He took it as proof he could play after 40.
Idk man, if someone is willing to give me millions of dollars to do something I love, I’m signing that contract.
“Shred of dignity?” I love it. Dude has poured his heart and soul into his team and community for 20 years. I mean, obviously that’s nowhere near as dignified as a random troll working up the nerve to anonymously criticize him online, but it is something.
By the way, what would retiring at this point do? Is that enough salary savings to get an even decent starter? No. Does it help team morale to have their leader give up? No. Do we have a chance in hades of advancing even to the playoffs with or without him? No.
So unless you are concerned about saving the DeWitts money, I say let the man take the money he has so clearly earned.
People were calling for Yadi to have retired 2 years earlier last year! Funny how no one remembers that. Look how bad his batting line was. Then he left the team to go be with his pro basketball team in Puerto Rico! People were pissed!
But hey, remember what you want!
Today, the Cardinals are in last place. 3 years ago really doesn’t matter. Sports and MLB is about what you’re doing now, not 3 years ago.
Mlb fan
That’s fine. My issue was with you saying “far too long” as if he didn’t have the right to come back in 2023. He did he earned it but this year has obviously been bad.
The previous poster’s “3 years prior” was inclusive – Wainwright was above-average to great in each of those years. NOT referring to “3 years ago” as though we’re three years removed from him being good, as you’re alluding.
Waino was signed to another 1-year deal this off-season, immediately after another complete season as an above-average MLB starter.
Your definition of “far too long” doesn’t really fit any timetable but your own.
Yeah, this would be the first year I’d say Waino probably should’ve retired…
I’m glad he made a go of it though. As a Braves fan, he’ll forever be that “one” mistake, but he’s still a legend, and he’s earned the right to walk away on his own terms.
Waino … sounds like a serial killer. Killed the season for the Cards. Doesn’t deserve 200 wins.
“Doesn’t deserve 200 wins” – that’s one of the most idiotic comment I’ve ever heard.
The entire team hasn’t been playing good this year
But “Waino killed the Cards thhb
Come on now. We know now that Molina is responsible for those wins. Waino couldn’t pee unless Yadi held his wee wee for him.
You’re absolutely right. I’m calling on MLB to form a task force into looking into all the people in the history of the game who don’t deserve the wins that they have. 511 is WAY too much for one player to have. We’re starting an anti Cy Young foundation to donate wins to underprivileged Rockies players…
Knob….
So you have absolutely no clue what you are talking about. Got it.
Wainwright doesn’t deserve 200 wins?
Wow…sometimes you just need to read a post to see the double-digit IQ.
Nobody does nostalgia like the Redbirds. Mo’s scrivener is putting the finishing touches on a 3 year extension for Goldy as we speak.
Way to go, Mo!
That would actually be awesome if true
I had a feeling the Syndergaard move was going to be a bust. Never rely on Mets pitching leftovers.
Thor didn’t do much for my Phillies in 2022. He was serviceable, at best. The bummer is we gave up Mickey Moniak for him. Moniak was the #1 overall pick in 2016. Now he’s hitting over.300 with 9 HR for the Angels.
Moniak probably isn’t gonna make the HOF or be an all-start like two ex-Phillies kicked to the curb way to soon ( Ferguson Jenkins and Ryne Sandberg), but he may have a 10-year career in the big leagues.
Lance Parrish also played for the Phillies.
@Backup Catcher: At least the Phillies didn’t trade Amos Otis, Nolan Ryan, and Ken Singleton for virtually nothing as the Mets once did.
with manager Oli Marmol citing “a variety of limitations”
I hate being lied to… as if I’m stupid… but I get it… protect him
One thing I would say is Oli hasn’t really been one to lie to the media. He could have lied about why he took Contreras out of catching for a week (I actually think he should have lied – not sure why they made that whole big stink) and he also called O’Neil out the first week of the season. I have plenty of takes on Oli but not sure he’s lying about this one.
Have you been following Michael Kay’s story about Contreras’s benching? Apparently he was benched for repeatedly calling pitches that the guy on the mound didn’t have. For example, he would call for a cutter from a guy who doesn’t throw a cutter. The pitchers were going nuts. I would assume the pitchers tried to address this with Contreras to no avail. I think the team decided to handle the decision in the pubic eye in order to get Contreras’s attention. Not that I’m defending management. They should have known these things before they gave out the contract. Ask any Cubs fan on this site. Anyway, the story is running in Sports Illustrated.
I’m always skeptical of anonymous sources. I’m more inclined to believe any confusion in pitch choices was caused by experimentation with pitchcom early in the season.
I’m also a bit skeptical of the timing of this leak. Is someone trying to draw attention away from management issues again? Why is it coming through Yankees announcers?
If Contreras really is that incompetent then it becomes one more reason MO should be fired. I find it hard to believe he’s that bad since Yadi recommended him. These players know each other well. The toxicity in the organization seems to be growing by the day.
I’m not big on anonymous sources either, but I’m going to go out on a limb and guess the source was Jordan Montgomery. Just my guess. The fact that Mikolas was experimenting with pitchcom again yesterday tells me that the pitchers are still uncomfortable with Contreras. In all fairness, Mikolas ditched the pitchcom after getting hit in the first inning and had more success as the game went on with Contreras calling the pitches.
So he was wrongly calling pitches manually or pitches that the guy on the mound doesn’t have were programmed into pitchcom and he was selecting them via that medium? The latter feels like a technology issue on top of a knowledge issue.
There’s only one program on the device. They don’t reprogram it for each pitcher. Why is this experimentation still going on in season? Spring training is for experimentaion; not the regular season. I feel like too many things changed at once with this team. The result has been chaos.
My point wasn’t about the benching but how it was handled. He was then catching a week later! Why even make a comment about your brand new catcher not being good enough to then turn around and have him catch again! He couldn’t even lie to the media for a week abo it a fake injury that would feel him from catching for a week!
That’s what I’m saying. They never wanted to take him away from catching, that would be like admitting a mistake. But they had to do something public to get him to listen. Closed door conversations weren’t getting the desired effect. This is pure speculation on my part, and I completely own that. But that is the way I see it playing out. It explains the why’s.
They put him back at catcher after a week because if they didn’t they would have to admit the signing was a mistake. Mo doesn’t admit mistakes. Ever. So they claimed the move was proactive rather than reactive. And there is your lie. Pure and blatant.
Doing it at all admits the mistake by virtue of their actions. Furthermore, having to do this admits a lack of top level leadership because a true leader could have solved it before it got to that point. The organization comes out looking weak across the board in the Contreras situation.
What’s he gonna say? Wainwright sucks?
I’m sure the biggest ailment for Wainwright is that 57 ERA+. I knew this was coming when he got battered so bad today. The scorer was kind and only charge him 4 runs. He was charged with 6 runs at first. His ERA went over 8.00 with those extra two runs. I was hoping he’d retire last year. He did okay in the first half last year. He got battered around after that.
Is there anyone left who thinks this team will compete next year? It’s a lifeless and leaderless team. Nothing is happening in St. Louis as long as MO and Marmol are in charge. I gave MO too much credit before this year. He was handed an excellent team which has gotten worse slowly but surely during his tenure. It’s not going to get better with him in charge. The management decisions this year have looked like a comedic carnival side show. That alone should get him fired. Flores is good at drafting. That’s the only thing that’s kept this team above water. He should stay. Most of the others should go.
The choice to put a man with zero coaching experience at any level as the pitching coach has been a disaster. Why doesn’t anyone say something about it?
It was a strange decision certainly, but I’m not convinced how much impact the pitching coach has either. For him to have an impact the players have to go along with what he’s saying. This isn’t a youth league. If the professional athlete doesn’t like what the coach is saying or there’s something truly bizarre being preached they can ignore him and the team has little recourse. They’re not going to cut the entire rotation for ignoring an ill-informed pitching coach. To that end, much of what is happening is on the players one way or the other.
But how else do you explain an entire pitching staff suddenly pitching below their career averages at the same time? Waino is getting old. I get that one. Explain the other 12-13 guys. Listen to Oli criticize Liberatore for throw with “lack of intent”. Look at Pallante upping his velo 2-3 mph over last year, but with no location. They are ruining pitchers by preaching velocity at all costs. I actually think that when you see Flaherty’s velocity drop into the high 80’s, that is him pushing back against management.
If you want to blame the struggles of the other veteran guys on Contreras being the ant-Yadi, I’d accept that. But no matter how you explain it, all the problems lead back to one guy. He wears bow ties.
So to clarify I’m not absolving the coach of blame. Rather I’m saying that the ultimate decision (or blame – however you want to view it) falls on the players. Either the advice is sound and they’re all having horrible performance years (odd but not impossible) or the advice is poor and they’re deciding to follow it off a cliff.
The ultimate decision falls on the players as to how they release the ball from their hands. Nobody can force them to do it differently if they decide they dislike the prescrib approach.
The coach is supposed to be finding and solving issues, not creating them.
Guest678 here, new handle. You’re are 100% correct. Mo was given the reigns of team coming off a WS title. Yes was GM since 2007, but it was TLR calling all the shots until he retired. And Mo has spend the past decade plus trying to disprove the believe TLR was fully in charged and has failed miserably. Mo has always tried to show he can make roster composition and game strategy just was well as TLR but can’t do either effectively. That’s why he only hires puppets for his manager. I don’t believe for a second Matheny, Schildt nor Marmol make the lineups and strategies. They may get to provide input on a few occacions, but the bulk decisions are out of their hands. Schildt said what Mo wanted to hear to get the job and then was fired when he started to try and push back for his way.
I would say Mo has been more lucky then good as far as player acquistions as well. He got lucky with Beltran and Mikollis, both were flyers for rebound potential and not highly sought after. Especially Mikolis, who is really a 4th starter used as a 2. Yes, he got Arenado and Goldschmidt, but lets be honest about those situations. Arenado was a publicly disgruntlyed employee in Colorado with a huge contract. The usual suspect teams were already set at 3rd base. and with high payrolls. He only gave up Austin Gomber and got cash back in the deal. Colorado had to deal him and there were no other suitors. He only gave up Carson Kelly and Luke Weaver for Goldschmidt. Goldschimdt had one year left on his contract and was showing signs of it being the end of the road on an expiring contract. Let’s not forget Goldschmidt looked like the second coming of TIto Martinez for the first couple months of 2019.Again, Arizona had to deal him preseason or risk getting even less at the trade dead line. Again, not too many other suitors. Guys like Lester, Happ, Quintana et al where low hanging fruit acquistions that got a change of scenory boost and eventually flamed out.
No reason to kick the dead horse of trade/DFA failures.
I will give a small amount credit where I think its do. I think the Ozuna trade was needed but unfortunate. Yes, we gave up to stud pitchers, and yes the buzz around them was high, especial Alcantara who was talked about as a front guy if he could ever figure out control, which we’ve seen many fail to do. But Ozuna was really good his two years here, we needed a bat, Stanton told us to kick rocks, and Yelich didn’t come available until a week later. Though it was an over pay, Miller for Heyward was good, we needed a RF since Tavares just died. Heyward had a great year, but wanted out and we weren’t going to pay him. We needed Fowler who profiled like Heyward. Yes we may have paid to much but he was still the best player on the team for his 3 years here, which says something. But those successes also shed light on hist biggest failures, he made a culture where no players want to sign here. Until Contreras he’s never been able to bring in big free agent. Contreras wasn’t in high demand either and again over paid and needed a push from Molina even then. He can’t develop players to MLB caliber, leaves them in the minors to long and is always trying to change them to fit his player molds.
But with the TLR holder overs followed by a complete rebuild by all the teams in the divisions, his teams have been just good enough to fool the common fans to keep them believing the team is perinial WS contender and filling the stadium with 3mil+ ticket sales annually. So the profits are there which all that matters and he gets to keep his job. Hopefully that ends soon. The need a new GM (David Stearn) a new manager (Demarlo Hale) and a top first first round draft pick in ’24 and ’25.
MO let Miami play him in the Ozuna trade by claiming Yelich was not available. They lied about Yelich’s availability. They wanted to move Ozuna first because Yelich was in higher demand. Yelich was traded to the Brewers immediately for less return than the Cardinals sent for Ozuna.
And now, if you haven’t heard, Yelich is KILLING IT and the Brewers are heating up.
That’s speaks to one of biggest issues. Mo is completely reactionary, he doesn’t plan and try and get ahead of things. He should be focused 3 years out. Yes, if the team is a contender their are in seasons moved to help, but in general he shouldn’t be worried about the current year outside of player call ups. It was just last week he said that they are solely focused on the draft right now and the trade deadline will be evaluated after that. That’s insane, he should have the draft theory wrapped up two weeks ago, but he was probably too busy scrambling to make dinner reservations in London. His lack of fore site is astonishing.
My question is whether people will keep watching the Cardinals on TV. If not, they will be the next team Bally hands back to MLB.
I will not hold him to the fire for moving Alcantara and anyone who does is being disingenuous. Alcantara was not particularly highly regarded when he was dealt and to say his control was a pipedream at that time might be somewhat generous. He was a long way off and suddenly something clicked. That happens on occasion, but nine times out of ten it does not.
Hasn’t Syndergaard been throwing batting practice already all season?
Touche
Wainwright needs to comeback in the bullpen. He will have a better chance picking up two wins from there rather then as a starter..
sure. if they only bring him in for the 5th inning and they are already up by 5 runs.
What ever it takes. They can cherry pick him the wins and in a few years we will only remember the 200 wins and not how he got the final few.
He was very highly regarded. I believe he was ranked highest between 100 and 110 prior to being dealt. But it was always caveated with if he can harness the control consistently. But his raw attributes were top notch when he could execute. Age old combine freak vs on field results.
Unfortunately, both Hudson and Matz had to back up Liberatore today (or technically yesterday) after he failed to get out of the 1st inning, so does that mean that Zack Thompson starts on Sunday (the next time Waino’s rotation spot comes around)?
“Meanwhile” belongs at the start of the sentence, not in the middle of it, set off by commas.