St. Louis Cardinals: Bueno Waino in rehab start in minors

The St. Louis Cardinals sent one-time ace pitcher Adam Wainwright to Springfield for his rehab start. Things worked out well.

The St. Louis Cardinals need Adam Wainwright to regain Adam Wainwright abilities and to heal. With Waino set to come off the disabled list in mere days, Wainwright needed to show the organization that he still had gas in the tank.

To show this, Wainwright was sent to the AA-affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals housed in Springfield. Today- Monday- was his rehab start.

Through five innings, Wainwright showed that he still had material good enough to shut-down AA batters. He allowed only two hits on 59 pitches. He also recorded two strikeouts and allowed zero runs.

Here are those stats once more so that we can compare them in moments:

• 5 innings
• 59 pitches
• 2 hits
• 0 runs
• 2 strikeouts

If we look back to Waino’s last start with the St. Louis Cardinals before he went on the disabled list, we see a completely different picture. While taking the win, Wainwright last appeared with the Cardinals on April 17 facing the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley on a bitter cold night. These were the stats from that appearance:

• 5 innings
• 93 pitches
• 4 hits
• 1 run
• 5 strikeouts

Waino looked good on that night in Chicago but this had not been the case in previous starts. When Milwaukee visited St. Louis on April 11, Waino pitched seven innings in the losing contest tossing 91 pitches. See why the St. Louis Cardinals need him to rebound?

In tonight’s contest facing the Minnesota Twins, the St. Louis Cardinals will send John Gant to the mound in what would have been Wainwright’s start (hence his rehab start today). Gant appeared last in the marathon game against the New York Mets back on April 26.

He entered the marathon game in the top of the 11th with both clubs knotted. His three innings pitched were all that the St. Louis Cardinals needed as they turned things around in the 13th to take the win. These were his stats in that evening’s contest:

• 3 innings
• 35 pitches
• 0 hits
• 0 runs
• 1 strikeout

Gant will make his first start for the Cardinals in 2018 but did appear as a starter for the Birds in 2017 toward the end of the season. He faced the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 24 and then faced the Brewers on September 29. He took a loss in both contests.

These were his pitching stats for those contests in 2017:

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• Facing the Pirates
  • 3 innings
  • 48 pitches
  • 3 hits
  • 1 run
  • 0 strikeouts
• Facing the Brewers
  • 5 innings
  • 88 pitches
  • 7 hits
  • 4 runs
  • 3 strikeouts

  Tonight will show if Gant has improved upon his 2017 performances and will show any value he has as a starter.

  Back to Wainwright, if Adam can return to the Cardinals with the stuff that he showed in Chicago, then this will be a welcomed addition. As a matter of fact, Waino’s speed differential to the other hurlers in the Cardinals rotation will make his match-ups work nicely as heavy contrasts.

  If, however, Adam returns in no better shape than he appeared in his first two starts of the 2018 campaign, then the St. Louis Cardinals need to find a replacement. While Jack Flaherty is the logical choice, looking at Gant makes a lot of sense too.

  Flaherty was not eligible, by the way, to return to the majors so soon after his optioning.

  One last thought: Gant may have greater value to the Cardinals as trade bait and showing what he has now can only help the club in the long run regardless of the planned or intended outcome.

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  Are you ready for Wainwright’s return? What do you predict? Is he done or is he just on his way back? Thanks for reading!