St. Louis Cardinals: Adam Wainwright returning to the rotation

Adam Wainwright is on his way back to the St. Louis Cardinals to be a part of the starting rotation if all goes well according to John Mozeliak.

What an incredible run it has been for the St. Louis Cardinals these past couple weeks. Nine straight series wins which featured the likes of the Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Colorado Rockies.

And a bullpen that was once thought to be beyond repair has been one of the best in the majors during this stretch. That was where it was assumed Adam Wainwright would go, to the place where he made a name for himself, the ‘pen.

On Monday, John Mozeliak said the veteran right hander “probably slides right into rotation” if everything is up to par in Wainwright’s next two rehab starts. With Michael Wacha‘s return looming as well, Mike Shildt will have two more pitchers at his disposal in an already deep system.

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We all know that Wainwright has not been the same since tearing his left Achilles in 2015. Waino has gone on some stretches where he looks like his old self but then falls off again. Before heading to the disabled list, Wainwright had an ERA of 4.00 in just 18 innings.

With John Gant holding his own (3.56 ERA in 86.0 IP) and young guys such as Austin Gomber and Daniel Poncedeleon pitching gems, you are left to wonder if Wainwright should be in the rotation at all.

Also, the aforementioned Michael Wacha will most likely get his spot back once he is back to one hundred percent. Now you theoretically have two spots to give up.

Miles Mikolas and Jack Flaherty have their spots secured and there is a revolving door of a third spot. Wainwright or Wacha can take that, but we still need another spot to fit the other in. This leaves us with John Gant and Austin Gomber.

Brett Cecil was performing better (up until that eighth inning in Colorado) since his return and Chasen Shreve’s 5.47 FIP is not too promising, so Gomber probably gets axed as he adds another lefty arm and he can go multiple innings.

Hopefully postseason hopes and dreams can help Wainwright find his old self and keep it for the rest of the season.