However, their overall record forced the Cards to play a Wild Card series against Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies. Sure there are. ago. The good news is that even with a modest 2.6 WAR this year, hes in his seventh-best season and can make tracks towards the third base peak standard (43.1 WAR). Perhaps (I would argue this is more likely) a new narrative arc would emergeWainwright, say, grits through physical pain to guide the Cardinals to the 2022 World Series and enters a level of folklore which allows voters to look optimistically upon his borderline statistical case (see: Ortiz, David). Heres what Bowden wrote: Mozeliak was cautious in his comments and reminded me that the right-hander threw only 36 innings last year. Before going down, he made solid progress towards the 200-win and 3,000 strikeout milestones; hes at 184 and 2,653, respectively, the latter thanks to a 30.1% strikeout rate, his best since 2016. Play-by-play data prior to 2002 was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted Of course, theres no prorating stats when it comes to evaluating Hall of Fame candidates, and so Wainwright appeared to be in the company of the likes of Roy Oswalt Wainwrights most similar pitcher per Baseball-Reference.com Cliff Lee and former teammate Chris Carpenter as pitchers who had terrific peaks but lacked the length for serious Cooperstown consideration. Hernandez also holds the distinction of having been the last MLB pitcher to throw a perfect game (2012). I found He founded the Futility Infielder website (2001), was a columnist for Baseball Prospectus (2005-2012) and a contributing writer for Sports Illustrated (2012-2018). It was almost a storybook season for the St. Louis Cardinals as club legends Adam Wainwright, Albert Pujols, and Yadier Molina were reunited and looked primed for a deep postseason run. and play-by-play data provided by Sports Info Solutions. Adam Wainwright has a big decision to make this offseason. Updated: Friday, March 3, 2023 11:11 PM ET, Park Factors As a result, Ive chosen not to include him on this article. The 35-year-old has a career record of 169-89 with a 3.19 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 2,682 strikeouts. We've sent an email with instructions to create a new password. Will this happen? Sabathia has a chance to become the 17th pitcher in history to record 3,000 strikeouts, which would give his candidacy a boost. Among those who are retired and eligible for Cooperstown, the 65th greatest starter of all-time is actually a pretty sufficiently big nameDwight Gooden. Adam Wainwright is the greatest St. Louis Cardinals pitcher since Bob Gibson, and arguably the greatest St. Louis Cardinals pitcher in history other than Bob Gibson. Injury? Halladay and Martinez combined to win five Cy Youngs had more dominant peaks than Wainwright, but their status as first-ballot Hall of Famers serve as evidence the electorate is already modifying its standards for Hall-worthy starting pitchers. Theyll defer. At age 33, hes signed for another four years after this campaign, so he should have sufficient time to make a run at 3,000 strikeouts and another Cy Young award. He entered Thursday 16-7 on. Bumgarner has thrown 36 career innings in the World Series and allowed one earned run. Perhaps his national profile and general likability increases due to his seemingly inevitable second act as a broadcasterWainwright received rave reviews as a postseason broadcaster last yearand this media visibility helps him in a media-driven contest such as Hall of Fame balloting. The secret to Adam Wainwright's success? A curveball like none other He was hit hard four balls hit off him registered exit velocities higher than 104 mph, including a 112.1 mph solo moonshot of a homer off the bat of Jos Abreu. For now, all eyes are on Flaherty and Wainwright. Or follow @seeingredpod on Twitter for a direct link. Price (155 wins) is the only active pitcher within 30 wins of Wainwright, with Cueto (135) and Bumgarner (127) much further behind. Maybe he has it in him to stick around for another 20 wins to get to 200, but he might not even crack the top 100 in JAWS while doing so. The bad news is that hell finish his age-35 season still short of 1,200 hits (hes at 1,156), meaning that hed have to average at least 160 a total he hasnt reached since 2016 through his age-40 season just to reach the all-important 2,000. Guerrero is on the Dominican Republic roster for this months World Baseball Classic. And if the Sox do pick up his option, he is by no means a lock to pass Eckersley in saves next year if Hendriks gets most of the chances. Winnowing the 180/2,000/3.40/350/2,300 field down to just wild card-era pitchers makes for an even more exclusive group: Wainwright, Scherzer, Verlander, Kershaw, Clemens plus Hall of Famers Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson, Roy Halladay and Pedro Martinez. Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina played their final game in the majors, a disappointing 2-0 loss to eliminate them from the Wild Card round. Actually, its two starting pitchers: Jack Flaherty and Adam Wainwright. St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright (50) sits in the dugout during the second inning of a baseball game between the Cardinals and the Pirates on Thursday, April, 7, 2022, at. Still, his 2.60 ERA is his lowest since 2017, and his strikeout rate is a solid 29.8%. The 2022 campaign was supposed to be the last for Adam Wainwright as well, although he has left the door slightly open for a return next year. Adam Wainwright has the second-most WAR of any Cardinals pitcher all-time (44.5). Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright reaches 2,000 career strikeouts He probably wont gain much more ground this year even assuming he does return, and as with the pitchers on either side of him in this list, free agency looms, though it seems unthinkable the Dodgers will let him depart. Even though three different physical problems were cited to explain Wainwrights plummeting velocity and ineffective pitching? Gibson got his 2,000th strikeout when Pittsburghs Roberto Clemente was called out on July 13, 1969. Todays pitcher will make it more for efficiency. 156-111, 3.18 ERA, 2,286 strikeouts, 126 adjusted ERA. Of the four active starters who are within hailing distance of the JAWS standard (61.1), none has done more to help himself in 2021 than Scherzer, who has been stellar in his age-36 season, pitching to a 2.40 ERA and 3.12 FIP in 146 innings for the Nationals and Dodgers. Brooklyn-based Jay Jaffe is a senior writer for FanGraphs, the author of The Cooperstown Casebook (Thomas Dunne Books, 2017) and the creator of the JAWS (Jaffe WAR Score) metric for Hall of Fame analysis. But is 40-year-old Adam Wainwright starting for the visiting Cardinals against the Dodgers in the winner-take-all tilt also on his way to joining Scherzer in the Hall of Fame? (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images), Wainwright strongly hinted he would retire alongside longtime batterymate Yadier Molina following next season. 1st stage: All good. But theres a rhythm to the ritual. Scott Rolen signs his name into history, calls Cardinals a 'catapult But theres no alarm. Adam Wainwright Deserves Serious Hall of Fame Consideration For starters, no pitcher can stay that good for that long. Press Box: Wainwright to decide if he can continue to beat foes as well He leads MLB in complete games this season at the age of 40, and is MLB's active leader in complete games with 27. JAWS and peak (WAR7) gains are the major drivers of this, but positional standards, traditional milestones, and ordinal rankings are considerations as well. An Alternate Hall of Fame populated by a mathematical formula. But if youd told me four years ago when his career looked absolutely left for dead that I would even half-heartedly entertain the notion, I would have doubted that even more. But the Cardinals and the pitcher Cardinals changed the schedule for his first start; Flaherty threw on the backfields instead. But until we see Jack pitching in games against opposing hitters in game conditions down there in Florida and recovering on time to do it again, and again, and again Ill have to take the wait-and-see approach. Adam Wainwright is the quintessential "Hall of Fame candidate for Cardinals fans" Hall of Fame candidate of the current team. The three Cy Young Awards should be enough to get him into the Hall of Fame. All UZR (ultimate zone rating) calculations are provided courtesy of Mitchel Lichtman. Only Price (2018) and Bumgarner (2019) have pitched enough to qualify for an ERA title once since the 2017 season. Bernie invites you to listen to his opinionated and analytical sports-talk show on 590 The Fan, KFNS-AM. Wainwrights candidacy as an elite pitcher of his time should strengthen during the five years between his retirement and his first appearance on a Hall of Fame ballot. Has Adam Wainwright done enough to deserve a place in the Hall of Fame? Wainwright, however, has a much more finite timetablehe has announced that he is retiring. Pitching to a 3.66 ERA and 4.45 FIP, hes produced a respectable 2.2 WAR, though hes still 0.6 points below the JAWS standard. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. What would Adam Wainwright need to do in 2022 to deserve Hall of Fame He'll retire with honors and accolades, becoming a fine coach and St. Louis area legend. He trailed 5-0 on a pair of home runs by Tyrone Taylor, a grand slam in the first inning and a solo shot in the fourth. Your login session has expired. The best-of-three series would not go in the Cardinals' favor, falling 2-0 to the eventual World Series participant. No one should expect to make money from the picks and predictions discussed on this website. Will the games most enigmatic Hall of Fame candidate, a pending free agent this winter, stick around to get it? The good news is that Sale is missing bats and taking names, offering hope that the 32-year-old lefty can resume a quest for Cooperstown that was beginning to come into focus before he was injured. But over the last three seasons, Jack has pitched only 154 innings. A Hall of Fame-bound pitcher is slated to take the mound in the top of the first inning of tonights NL wild card game. St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright reaches 2,000 career 1:09 | September 14, 2022 St. Louis Cardinals analyst Brad Thompson joins Blair and Barker to talk about whether Adam Wainwright deserves a nod into the Baseball Hall of Fame, stating you. Godspeed, Waino. And while deGromcontinued to blast 100-mph fastball after 100-mph fastball past hitterseven while missing turns here and there due to what were believed (by the Mets, at least) to be minor and disconnected injuries, he finally landed on the IL in early July with forearm inflammation. Central Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto headlines the list of players in the National League West who are on track to have a chance to make it into baseball's Hall of Fame. I highly doubt it. Josh Donaldson, third base (43.8 career | 41.2 Peak | 42.5 JAWS, +1.5 JAWS). But its just not going to happen anymore the way pitchers are used now and the way free agency is and (how) careers go. Everyone Thinks Justin Verlander Belongs In The Hall Of Fame. So Why It's a career that includes 10 All-Star Games, nine Gold Gloves, four Platinum Gloves, two World Series titles and plenty of adulation from the St. Louis area and beyond. While it seems impossible to envision it now, Wainwright was not always a member of the St. Louis Cardinals. He, of course, can retract this, but as he is now in his 40s, Im inclined to believe hes serious. Paul Goldschmidt, first base (49.1 career | 40.6 Peak | 44.9 JAWS, +2.2 JAWS). A couple of guys are sore but its OK, everything is fine, nothing to worry about, dont know why the media is making a fuss over this, were just being careful, just holding the pitcher back by a day to be on the safe side, hes looking great, hes getting his work in, theres no need to push it. Adam WainWright's MLB stats are Win-loss record 195-115, Earned run average 3.35 and Strikeouts 2,142. After doing some [strength] assessments, its something he can solve. Replacing those lost or disrupted seasons with three average Wainwright seasons a 13-7 mark with 138 strikeouts over 164 innings would have Wainwright at 223-126 with 2,418 strikeouts. The greatest lineups ever? How much more does Wainwright need to do to make the Hall of Fame in More From This Game. But he didnt become a full-time starter until his age-24 season, and hes now pitched for a quarter of the American League teams. His 133 OPS+ is a step down from his 201218 prime (146), but his .493 SLG is his best since leaving Arizona. 9 mo. Still, hes won 230 games, led the league in wins twice, and won a Cy Young award and a World Series ring. He'll retire with honors and accolades, becoming a fine coach and St. Louis area legend. Build your customFanSided Daily email newsletter with news and analysis onSt. Louis Cardinals and all your favorite sports teams, TV shows, and more. In the five innings Wainwright yielded eight hits and four earned runs for a 7.20 ERA. The performance was unsurprisingly unsustainable. This will undoubtedly hurt Wainwright's bid for the Hall of Fame. Opinion | Is Adam Wainwright a Hall of Famer? - KSDK.com Actually, it's two starting pitchers: Jack Flaherty and Adam Wainwright. Even so, five catchers including the younger and still-productive Buster Posey outrank him in the framing-inclusive version of my metric, and with an 80 wRC+ and 0.7 fWAR this year, plus plans to retire after 2022, he might not even catch Russell Martin (49.1) or Joe Mauer (49.3) in the rankings. The just-turned-40-year-old is currently in the midst of a late-career renaissance (2.97 ERA, 3.1 WAR), leaving many to wonder. Gibson, who died last October, finished with 3,117. It's an ex-Chip's Worldand we're just picking up the pieces. After the divorce, his mother, Nancy, became a real estate agent and raised the boys on her own. By either that mark or traditional reliever JAWS, the 33-year-old Kimbrel is the biggest gainer this year. If this is the end, Wainwright is leaving behind a solid career. Conn: It's time to slow down on the Cardinals Hall of Fame On 30-8-1981 Adam Wainwright (nickname: Adam) was born in Brunswick, Georgia, United States. It goes something like this . Yadier Molina, catcher (58.1 career fWAR (incl. Guerrero was seen walking toward the clubhouse with an athletic trainer in the second inning and was replaced defensively by Rainer Nunez to start the third. Please contact us. However, the future Cardinals Hall of Famer is coming off a 2022 season in which he lost velocity, suffered a decline in swing-and-miss stuff and faded to a 17.8 percent strikeout rate. However, the future Cardinals Hall of Famer is coming off a 2022 season in which he lost velocity, suffered a decline in swing . "Adam Wainwright is going to have such an interesting Hall of Fame case once he retires." - Connor Looker Throughout his career, Wainwright has won a World Series and has been selected to. The slugger hit .274 with 32 homers and 97 RBIs in 160 games last year. All of the starters have a JAWS of at least 42.0; roughly speaking, thats the equivalent of seven six-win seasons, a point at which I start to take mid-career pitchers seriously. Bernie has hosted radio shows in St. Louis, Dallas, Baltimore and Washington D.C. Bernie, his wife Kirsten and their cats reside in the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood of St. Louis. 34. Sometimes a little spring-training soreness is nothing more than a little spring-training soreness. Adam Wainwright - Baseball-Reference.com 141-80, 3.23 ERA, 1,547 strikeouts, 124 adjusted ERA. After slaying the October beast that had haunted him for so many years, Kershaw pitched reasonably well through the first three months of the season, posting a 3.39 ERA and 2.98 FIP the latter his lowest mark since 2016 in 106.1 innings. All advice, including picks and predictions, is based on individual commentators opinions and not that of Minute Media or its related brands. Since then, hes made the All-Star team every year, led the league in wins on three occasions, and won a Cy Young award in each league. Saturday marked the end of an era for the St. Louis Cardinals. St. Louis Cardinals: Bad luck, bad timing hurt Wainwright's pedigree Adam Wainwright Stats. Fantasy baseball: Which prospects have fantasy value in 2023? His velocity has dropped again, though Wainwright did push it up a little in his second start. The hot air balloon . The 40-year-old right-hander became the ninth active pitcher with 2,000. It is possible that he ends up as one of those players who hangs around the ballot for his decade of eligibility, getting a boost because of his time in St. Loius, but the only way he ends up in Cooperstown will be with a ticket. Adam Wainwright will make history as he will become the seventh pitcher in St. Louis Cardinals history to start a game after his 41st birthday. Adam Wainwright never won a Cy Young Award. SwartzSports | The Philadelphia Eagles Blog, SwartzSports | The Philadelphia Eagles Blog, Power Ranking NFLs Top 100 Active Players Prior to 2017, SwartzSports 50 Predictions for the 2022 NFL Season, 2022 SwartzSports First Round Mock Draft (with trades), Ranking the 50 Best Players Not in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Assigning Grades to Key Members of the 2021 Philadelphia Eagles: Part I (Offense), Handing Out Major Awards for 2021 NFL Season, Power Ranking All 235 Major League Players in the Baseball Hall of Fame (Part V: #50-1), Power Ranking All 235 Major League Players in the Baseball Hall of Fame (Part III: #150-101), Power Ranking All 235 Major League Players in the Baseball Hall of Fame (Part II: #200-151), Power Ranking All 235 Major League Players in the Baseball Hall of Fame (Part I: #235-201), Power Ranking All 235 Major League Players in the Baseball Hall of Fame (Part IV: #100-51), Evaluating Hall of Fame Odds for 10 Active Major League Pitchers. NeverSober1900. Jansens 30 saves have pushed him to 14th on the all-time list, five away from the next rung and 26 away from cracking the top 10. Velocity? By Hybrid JAWS, Adam Wainwright is, currently, the 118th greatest starting pitcher in Major League Baseball history. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) Adam Wainwright was one of many players lucky enough to have shared a clubhouse with Scott Rolen, the newest member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.. Its not like hes been injury-prone; Price has led the league in games started three times and innings pitched twice. Aroldis Chapman (18.5 WAR | 19.9 WPA | 12.0 WPA/LI | 16.8 R-JAWS, +0.6 R-JAWS). Terms of Service. (And hes been getting his work in, at least for the most part.) While wins arent everything, Ive chosen to list them chronologically by career win total as a benchmark of evaluation. But what is particularly interesting to examine with regards to Wainwright is that if Wainwright were elected, he would not even be close to the worst starting pitcher in Cooperstown. Pirates, Cardinals 2022 Opening Day FAQ - MLB.com All Wins Above Replacement and Wins Above Average data comes . It is not as though a 6.4 WAR season alone would do the trickwhile this would put Wainwright over 50 bWAR and at 56.4 fWAR (assuming he hit 6.4 on both metrics), the impact on Wainwrights peak would be much smaller, since he was reasonably good in his seventh best season under both metrics (3.0 bWAR, 3.9 fWAR). Laurie Skrivan, St, Louis Post-Dispatch Here's a look at some other top Cardinals not in the Hall of Fame. Has Yadier Molina Successfully Framed His Hall of Fame Case? For this exercise, Im focused mainly on mid- or late-career players rather than early-career ones. The starting pitcher, who will enter his 19th season with the Cards, was drafted by the Atlanta Braves. The 40-year-old right-hander became the ninth active pitcher with 2,000. All major league baseball data including pitch type, velocity, batted ball location, Queried about his Cooperstown credentials during the Cardinals' visit to Citi Field last month, Wainwright grinned while seemingly acknowledging his counting numbers he has 184 wins and 2,004. Astros @ Cardinals. Adam's parents had a rocky marriage, and they split up when he was around seven years old. St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright joins Scott Braun, Erik Kratz, Todd Frazier, and AJ Pierzynski to talk about his final season and the legacy he's left behind. Ive lost track. Hes produced 5.0 WAR with his pitching but -0.6 WAR with his hitting with a remarkable .000/.000/.000 line taking this no-hitter thing a bit too literally through 50 PA; on Wednesday night, he surpassed Wei-Yin Chens record for season-opening futility, set in 2016. Even if he is able to reach the 200 win threshold, will Wainwright find himself enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame? Molina should make the Baseball Hall of Fame while Wainwright will probably fall short, but even so, we need to enjoy the final season with the longtime battery mates on the . Just want to take care of some minor inflammation after he ramped up his throwing and pitch counts. Reports on Wednesday, October 26th, say that Wainwright will return to the Cardinals for his 19th MLB season with the club, as he continues to chase his 200th career win. He has put together a solid career, posting a 193-114 record with a 3.34 ERA and a 1.208 WHiP over his 2538.2 innings . Flaherty pitched 348 innings over the 2018 and 2019 seasons. St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright may have ended a solid career. A frequently cited statistic for determining Hall worthiness is the average production of a Hall of Famer at that position, though my preferred approach is to consider a players worthiness not according to the average at a position among a subset of players who are sometimes transcendent and sometimes unworthy, but rather to ask, Is this guy the (fill in ordinal number of Hall of Famers at position) best (fill in position) ever? By Hybrid JAWS, Yadier Molina is the 13th greatest catcher of all-time (two of the ones ahead of him, Buster Posey and Joe Mauer, are not yet Hall-eligible), and there are sixteen catchers in the Hall of Fame. He surpassed 200 wins in 2019 (hes at 219 now), but with his strikeout rate dipping from 24.5% last year to 17.0% this year, hes still 201 strikeouts away from 3,000 and will probably need two seasons to reach the milestone instead of one. If hes still got the stuff and durability to get to 3,000, the rest of the numbers might fall into place. Press release: Cardinals announce 2022 promotions schedule - MLB.com This year, however, the biggest stars of Opening Day will be three players in Cardinals jerseys who all have legitimate shots of someday being in baseball's Hall of Fame themselves. Throughout his career, Wainwright has won a World Series and has been selected to the All-Star game three times. By checking this box, I agree to the terms of service and privacy policy of Rogers Media. Enter your email address to get a new one. Please logout and login again. Strasburg hasnt been a disappointment, but he also hasnt lit the world on fire. A two-homer, two-walk game on Wednesday added half a win to whats now his seventh-best season (4.5 WAR); with a big finish, he can approach the peak standard (42.7 WAR). When he calls it a career, Wainwright won't be a serious contender for baseball's Hall of Fame, unlike Molina. But compared to Molina or especially Pujols, Adam Wainwright is an underdog. He threw two no-hitters in the same season and tied the major league record with 20 strikeouts in a nine-inning game. Although Gooden was one-and-done when he reached the ballot in 2006, his extraordinary peak meant he probably deserved more of a look. Wainos going to do that whether hes here or not, and thats a trust thing that Im not concerned with.. While he has never won a Cy Young Award, he was in the top 3 on four occasions. How many times have we heard a version of this spin when a St. Louis pitcher has some discomfort or just needs a little time to build himself up in spring training? What injury? Adam Wainwright's age is 41. Adam Wainwright - Age, Bio, Personal Life, Family & Stats - CelebsAges It is possible that the same will be the case for a third Cardinals legend. Adam Wainwright K's McCormick. Adam Wainwright will return for his 19th season with the. . While Pujols and Molina are guaranteed to enter the Hall of Fame, Wainwright's case is a tricky one to say the least. Yadier Molina is arguably one of the best defensive catchers in the history of baseball. Injuries have plagued Adam Wainwright more than the other pitchers on this list; hes going to be 36 in a few months and hes logged just 1,800 innings due to Tommy John surgery (2011) and an Achilles tendon rupture (2015). His sinker averaged 84.9 mph, a 3.7 percent decrease from 2022. Interestingly enough, he missed the entire 2011 season for the world champion St. Louis Cardinals, but he did play an integral role as a closer in the 2006 playoffs, throwing 9.2 scoreless innings in the playoffs. Queried about his Cooperstown credentials during the Cardinals visit to Citi Field last month, Wainwright grinned while seemingly acknowledging his counting numbers he has 184 wins and 2,004 strikeouts are not going to measure up to most of the starting pitchers enshrined in Cooperstown. After suffering a setback around the trade deadline, he only returned to throwing on August 25; the Mets are holding out hope that the 33-year-old righty can rejoin them by mid-September. After nearly two seasons in the wilderness, he regained his dominant form with the Cubs, and while hes scuffled since being traded to the White Sox while pitching in a setup role in front of Liam Hendriks, his 2.02 ERA, 2.24 FIP, and 43.2% strikeout rate make this his best season since 2017 and put him in line for another substantial free-agent payday if the White Sox decline his $16 million club option. In fairness, the Cardinals are correct in their initial thinking. 2nd stage: Everything is still on track. Hall of Very Good. Wainwright could become the sixth to add the Hall of Fame to their resume. Gibson got his 2,000th strikeout when Pittsburgh's Roberto Clemente was called out on July 13, 1969. That includes 2020, a season shortened by the pandemic. Arizona Diamondbacks. But Wainwright proved his solid 2020 wasnt a brief mirage. Adam Wainwright joined Hall of Famer Bob Gibson as the only St. Louis Cardinals pitchers with 2,000 strikeouts, fanning Milwaukee's Luis Uras in the fourth inning Thursday. . The Cardinals looked like one of the best teams in the National League throughout the 2022 regular season, finishing with a record of 93-69, winning the NL Central Division in the process.