St. Louis Cardinals: Waino no bueno, yet

St. Louis Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright hasn’t had the start to this season that a top-of-the-rotation guy should command. Is there real reason for concern or will the bueno Waino appear soon?

After having suffered the loss of Adam Wainwright in 2015 to an Achilles injury, the St. Louis Cardinals had looked to this year as a secure year with Waino leading the rotation as the cards broke camp. Now, through almost four series contests this season, Wainwright has yet to produce at top-of-the-rotation caliber. Should we sound the alarms?

Wainwright pitched only seven games in 2015 but was his usual, impressive, killer arm in those seven games. In all of his appearance in 2015 (more on this later), Waino produced a 2-1 record and a 1.61 ERA. He pitched 28 innings and accumulated 20 strikeouts accounting for a 1.04 WHIP.

Disaster struck in April (almost an exact year ago; April 25 to be exact) in Milwaukee when Waino left the batter’s box to run to first, and… Pop!

On April 30, 2015, Wainwright underwent surgery to repair the Achilles and doctors suggested that his season had come to an end. Waino, the always-fighting pitcher, spent the season rehabbing and adding strength vowing to return to action. On September 30, 2015, just five months after surgery, Waino was activated and

On September 30, 2015, just five months after surgery, Waino was activated and returned to action against the Pirates on that date. In his one inning appearance on this date, Wainwright allowed one run on two hits. His appearance was exciting for fans and surprising for doctors who had predicted a healing time of 9-12 months following surgery.

Did Wainwright come back too soon? In his brief appearances after his return, Wainwright seemed to have decent enough stuff. In October 2015, Wainwright faced Atlanta twice, pitching one inning in each game. In these appearances from the pen, he surrendered no hits, no runs, one walk, and one strikeout.

In the 2015 postseason, Wainwright appeared from the pen for the birds on the bat across 5.1 innings in three games all against the baby bears. In these, he allowed one run across three hits (one home run) while walking none and striking out six. His postseason ERA was 1.69.

Fast-forward, if you will, to the 2016 spring when hopes were high that the Cardinals would have a complete season with their perennial ace. In spring, Wainwright showed minor signs of concern. In his four appearances, Wainwright pitched fifteen total innings, allowing eight runs on nineteen hits (one home run). His command was in question

His command was in question this spring wherein he allowed six walks to eleven strikeouts. His spring ERA finished at 4.80 which was incredible no bueno for Waino. His spring WHIP finished at 1.67, the highest recorded WHIP in his career stats.

Fans and the team alike tried severely to shake off the rust of spring as the season began trying to hold onto the promise of having the ace return. This hope seems to be fading fast. Let’s look at Adam’s three starts so far.

Wainwright “won” the starting job to kick-off the 2016 season (“won” used here more likely as default) against the Pirates. In the extremely cold weather of Pittsburgh, Waino managed to ink only six innings in which he allowed three runs on six hits walking three and striking out three.

To his detriment, the offense in the game froze with the weather. This game’s WHIP finished at 1.50 and Adam took the first loss of his season.

Wainwright’s next appearance came in the Atlanta series against a team that the Cardinals were beating fairly easily. As easily as the Cardinals were finding hitting and scoring against Atlanta, the Braves hitters found Wainwright’s material. In only five innings, Adam allowed five runs on six hits while walking five and striking out two.