Projecting Adam Wainwright’s final season with the St. Louis Cardinals

Based on Yahoo projections for 2022, Adam Wainwright could be in for another big year in his final season with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Following one of his best seasons in a Cardinals uniform, Adam Wainwright is returning for one final year in St. Louis in 2022. While Yahoo projects the ace’s numbers will slightly decrease, let’s take a deeper look into the numbers to see if that is an accurate projection.

Last season, Wainwright had an incredible bounce back season at the age of 39. He pitched an astounding 206.1 innings across 33 starts. This placed him third in total innings pitched, which is unheard of for someone his age. For this season, the projections see a dip in innings and games – 184 and 29, respectively.

As for the counting stats, Wainwright is projected to pick up four fewer wins and strikeout 17 fewer batters in 2022. While the strikeouts may drop slightly, his signature curveball is bound to foil hitters throughout the season, so one should not worry about his punch-out capabilities. On the other hand, the decrease in wins is much harder to predict. If he stays healthy, Waino could smash this projected win total.

On the advanced numbers side of things, Wainwright had a 3.05 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP in 2021. These numbers are bound to increase in his age-40 season. The projections see the ERA rising to 3.28 and the WHIP increasing to 1.13. This is not nearly as bad as the projections could have been. A sub-3.30 ERA is beneficial as a starting pitcher. While a 1.13 WHIP is starting to get on the higher side of things, that number would still place Waino in the top 35 among starting pitchers.

While it is unlikely that Wainwright can match his impeccable 2021 season, his final season with the Redbirds is looking promising. Based on projections, he should be in line for another big year. Assuming there is a 162-game season, Wainwright should finish his career on a strong note and retire as one of the greatest Cardinals to ever pitch.