St. Louis Cardinals: Which Adam Wainwright will we see?

Adam Wainwright pitches today for the St. Louis Cardinals in a big NLDS Game 3. Which Wainwright will we see today at Busch?

No matter which way you slice it, 2019 was an amazing year for St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright. After a disappointing 2018 where a lot of fans, including myself, thought that Waino’s legendary Cardinal career was sputtering out, he decided to beat father time.

The 38-year-old Wainwright made 31 starts this year and was above average with a 102 ERA+. His production and 171.2 innings this year was his best year since 2014 and while he may have been the 5th starter, there’s not much more you could ask for out of him in that spot especially with the intangible leadership that he brings to this team.

The 2019 Cardinals had an odd trend where it seemed all of the starters were much better at home than on the road. Wainwright’s 4.19 ERA is slightly deceptive as he embodied the weirdest team trend more than anybody.

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On the road, Wainwright looked like a player at the end of his career. He frequently had short starts and as you can see, let up almost double the number of runs as he did at home in ~20 fewer innings.

At home, Wainwright looked as good or better than his peak years in the early 2010s. This was exactly what the Cardinals needed from Wainwright, regardless of the reason why there was so much disparity between the starts. He recaptured his bulldog mentality and showed he still had what it takes.

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The benefit of postseason baseball is that the team can really manipulate the rotation to make sure Wainwright only throws pitches at Busch Stadium this October. Hours before the Cardinals take on the Atlanta Braves in Game 3 of the NLDS after splitting the first two games in Atlanta, we have to wonder which Waino fans will see: the old man on the road, or aged ace who found the fountain of youth?

This is a question that has a pretty clear favorite for the answer if you look at Wainwright’s postseason career.

In his career, this will be Waino’s 7th postseason. His overall ERA is 3.03 over 89.0 innings and he has an amazing 1.090 WHIP. His most recent postseason appearances in 2015 came out of the bullpen against the Cubs and the oft-injured Waino gave up just one run over 5.1 innings.

That was four years ago, but the mentality and experience is still there. Wainwright has proven, no matter the role, he can step up in the postseason and he will need to show it again this year.

Nobody knows how long Wainwright has left in his career, but he will be the most motivated and locked in person in the ballpark on Sunday. The Braves are going to try and tell him he’s washed up, he doesn’t have it anymore, and that this is his last postseason. I would venture to guess Mr. Wainwright would have something else in mind.

This Game 3 is going to be big as Wainwright faces off against rookie Mike Soroka (2.68 ERA) in the game that could set the tone for the rest of the series. Here’s hoping Wainwright does what we all know he can do.