The art of the possible is not easy. St. Louis Cardinals pitching legend Adam Wainwright, 42, is injured. Will we ever see him on the mound again?
“Wainwright has been placed on the disabled list with shoulder inflammation,” St. Louis announced on Friday (ET).
Wainwright, who made his debut in 2005, is a franchise star who played 18 seasons with the Reds. In 468 career games (2619 innings), he has a 198-121 record, 17 shutouts, three saves, a 3.46 ERA, and 2,175 strikeouts. Notably, he had seven straight years of double-digit wins from 2007 to 2014. He is a three-time All-Star and two-time Most Valuable Player. In the 2006 season, he won the World Series as a closer.
He’s also well known to Korean fans. Fast forward to the 2020 season. He was one of the teammates who helped Kwang-hyun Kim (SSG), who was trying to return home after the start of the season was delayed by four months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wainwright went out of his way to help, inviting him to his home and playing catch with him in his backyard. “If it wasn’t for him, I would have gone back to Korea,” said Kim, who had a successful debut season in the major leagues that year.
But after this season, he’s hanging up his jersey. He’s retiring.
But his retirement season hasn’t been easy. In March, he suffered a groin injury at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) with the United States, delaying his start to the season by a month.
His numbers have not been good. In 11 starts this season, he’s 3-4 with a 7.66 ERA in 51⅔ innings pitched.
To make matters worse, this time, he suffered a shoulder injury.
Wainwright has been adamant that he’s “not done yet” and will return from the injury.
Wainwright has reportedly been dealing with shoulder discomfort all season. His last three starts have not been good. He gave up seven runs in three innings against the Cubs, six runs in 1⅔ innings against Houston, and seven runs in 3⅓ innings against Miami.바카라사이트
He said, “I had elbow surgery before the 2018 season. I pitched five more years after that. This pain has affected me. I can’t deny it, I can’t hide it. I have to get better,” he said.
Current Miami manager Skip Schumaker, who was a fixture in St. Louis, said, “I believe Wainwright will recover and come back. This shouldn’t be his last season, he’s a champion. I hope he comes back because I don’t think this is the right way for him to end it.”