St. Louis Cardinals: Four reasons Adam Wainwright will be a Cy Young finalist

Everyone is doubting the St. Louis Cardinals, but maybe their ace is still an ace, capable of dominating the National League yet again.

St. Louis Cardinals’ ace Adam Wainwright was on the mound in Milwaukee last April 25th making just his fourth start of the young season when disaster struck. The game started off promising enough. Wainwright was coasting to four scoreless innings and had yielded just three hits while striking out four Brewers batters.

Uncle Charlie was doing what he does best.

Then Wainwright stepped to the plate to bat in the top of the fifth. As soon as he swung and fell to the ground, my stomach churned. When Wainwright grabbed his left foot and had to be helped off the field, my fears were only further confirmed.

It’s easy to forget that the Cardinals went on to win that game 5-3, because who they lost that day was more significant — their ace had torn his left Achilles tendon.

After his surgery, the diagnosis was 9 to 12 months for recovery. Amazingly, Wainwright returned in five and even pitched several successful innings out of the bullpen. Despite the early return, there are some who doubt whether Wainwright can return to form this season.

I am on the other side of the argument, I strongly believe Wainwright will be back to his old tricks next season. Actually, I believe that Wainwright will be back among the league’s best next season. Here are four reasons Wainwright will be a Cy Young Finalist in 2016.

Next: He has something to prove