Cardinals Rumors: Wainwright replacements, new prospect dazzles, trade bait
By Kristen Wong
Cardinals Rumors: Adam Wainwright wants to end his career strong, but can he?
Cardinals veteran Adam Wainwright’s swan song is turning into the horrid screeching of an ugly duckling.
Wainwright took the mound on Friday against Kansas City and delivered another performance to forget, giving up eight runs on nine hits, including two homers, and no outs in just over an inning’s worth of work.
Cards manager Oli Marmol admitted Wainwright’s future has become hazier in the final stretch of this miserable season, and Wainwright himself might agree. He got yanked from the rotation against the Royals, out of all teams. He hasn’t won a game since mid-June. The changing of the guard might have to happen sooner rather than later.
After Friday’s outing, Wainwright told The Athletic:
"“I’m hesitant to admit it — and I’ve heard this from older guys who retired — but when you know you’re done, you could lose an edge. I was really resistant to that because I thought I would fight like crazy till the end. But I’m going to have to refocus and get real serious about ending strong because I don’t want to go out like that. I mean, that’s just embarrassing.”"
As much as Wainwright has secured legendary status in St. Louis, he’s become a distressing liability in 2023. Wainwright is just two wins away from the big career 200, but at this point, the Cardinals are putting him out there for emotional reasons, not tactical ones.
His ballooning 8.78 ERA screams at the Cards’ front office to put Wainwright on the bench, or at least in the bullpen in a more limited role.
Giving young pitchers — like Michael McGreevy or Alex Cornwell — in-game experience over an aging and clearly declining Wainwright may be the best move for the franchise’s short-term future.