On an afternoon when roster and lineup decisions created a mini-controversy surrounding new catcher Willson Contreras, veteran starter Adam Wainwirght provided the St. Louis Cardinals with a measure of stability with his return to the rotation. However, that didn't prevent the Cardinals from suffering their eighth straight loss (DET 6, STL 5) and dropping to an NL-worst 10-24 on the season.
In his first start of 2023, the 41-year-old Wainwright, who'd been sidelined since spring training with a groin strain, authored a strong start against the visiting Detroit Tigers on Saturday – one that was perhaps stronger than the runs allowed column would suggest:
Of his 90 pitches, 62 went for strikes. His fastball averaged 87.6 mph, which is down just a bit from his 2022 norms but better than what he showed during spring training. He topped out on Saturday at 89 mph. In character, Wainwright worked six different pitches for strikes, and seven of his eight whiffs came on his signature overhand curve. He threw that pitch 37 times against Detroit, usually to good effect:
Wainwright permitted only one hit through the first four innings, but he ran into trouble in the fifth and eventually allowed the tying runs to score. Wainwright appeared to get a strikeout of Matt Vierling followed quickly by a caught-stealing of Akil Baddoo. However, the apparent strike three to Vierling was ruled ball three, and the safe call on Baddoo was upheld on replay even though it appeared that Brendan Donovan tagged him a hairsbreadth before his hand reached the second-base bag. Baddoo would score the Tigers' first run of the game on Eric Haase's bloop single. As well, miscommunication on a pop-up to shallow right allowed Haase to score on a sac fly. Had right fielder Lars Nootbaar rather than the second baseman Donovan caught the pop-up, Haase very likely would not have tagged up. Wainwright's day ended after permitting the first two batters of the bottom of the sixth to reach and the fourth run of the game to score.
Thanks largely to home runs from Dylan Carlson and Nolan Arenado, Wainwright exited the game staked to a 5-4 lead. As such he had been in line to pick up the win, but the St. Louis bullpen was unable to hold that slim lead.
Wainwright flailed down the stretch last season thanks to muscle and mechanical imbalances and then showed additional velocity loss during spring training and as a member of Team USA during the World Baseball Classic. He also fared inconsistently during a three-start minor-league rehab assignment that preceded his Saturday start. Now in better health, Wainwright and his deep repertoire may provide the Cardinals with a much-needed presence in the rotation. Coming into Wainwright's first start, St. Louis ranked 24th in MLB with a rotation ERA of 5.39.
Wainwright's first start back was hardly a gem, but there were enough signs of promise to call his return a most welcome one for St. Louis in spite of the eventual outcome.
