Strasburg hasnt been a disappointment, but he also hasnt lit the world on fire. Leg and glute stiffness that limited his leg drive, the aftereffect of recent back spasms, and a torn finger blister. Hell get some work in between now and then, and hopefully that will get him on track. Adam Wainwright (44.0 career | 35.5 Peak | 39.8 JAWS, +2.1 JAWS). Theyll defer. Yadier Molina, catcher (58.1 career fWAR (incl. Adam Wainwright has a big decision to make this offseason. However, per his stats, it would not be surprising if he is inducted in his first year of eligibility. We use cookies to improve your experience. Halladay and Martinez combined to win five Cy Youngs had more dominant peaks than Wainwright, but their status as first-ballot Hall of Famers serve as evidence the electorate is already modifying its standards for Hall-worthy starting pitchers. All rights reserved. The 40-year-old right-hander became the ninth active pitcher with 2,000. Bernie invites you to listen to his opinionated and analytical sports-talk show on 590 The Fan, KFNS-AM. When it comes down to it, Sabathia may find himself in a logjam of other similar pitchers, and if he does get in, it may take him some time. Hes also climbed from 12th to ninth in saves (372) and should easily move past Joe Nathan (377) and Dennis Eckersley (390) within the next year. But Wainwright still had good value because he supplied 192 innings. Hes actually been tougher to hit than in any season since 2016, but his 14% walk rate has created more traffic than ever, and hes blown five of 35 save chances, though three of those were in consecutive outings in mid-July, accounting for seven of the 16 earned runs hes allowed. But I want to consider Adam Wainwrights Hall of Fame case as a purely statistical candidate based on the statistics we currently have. I wouldnt expect Wainwright to be at his best at this stage. Adam Wainwright strikes out Chas McCormick swinging in the top of the 1st inning, one of his two strikeouts over three innings of work. Chapman notched his 300th save on August 26, but hes had an unimpressive season, walking 16.2% of hitters en route to a 3.68 ERA and 4.16, all career worsts. His monitor score is only an 87. All stats used here were sourced from FanGraphs, Baseball Reference, Stathead, Bill James Online, Fielding Bible, Baseball Prospectus, Baseball Savant, Brooks Baseball Net and Spotrac. But its just not going to happen anymore the way pitchers are used now and the way free agency is and (how) careers go. For more information, please read our Legal Disclaimer. No Cy's (albeit 4 top 3 finishes). 163-103, 3.40 ERA, 2,125 strikeouts, 122 adjusted ERA. The pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, in which Wainwright went 5-3 with a 3.15 ERA in 10 starts, amounted to a fourth lost season for the right-hander, who missed all of 2011 recovering from Tommy John surgery and made just seven appearances (four starts) due to a torn Achilles in 2015 before he was limited to eight starts by right elbow inflammation in 2018. He is known for being a Baseball Player. What's the Dodgers' plan at shortstop? All WAR (and WPA) figures here refer to the Baseball Reference version, unless otherwise indicated. Hes never pitched for a World Series champion, and his career postseason statistics wont help him hes 2-8 with a 5.54 ERA, and hes gotten completely shelled on multiple occasions. But even if we throw 2020 out, Flaherty averaged only 57 innings of work over the last two years. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. Of course, theres no prorating stats when it comes to evaluating Hall of Fame candidates, and so Wainwright appeared to be in the company of the likes of Roy Oswalt Wainwrights most similar pitcher per Baseball-Reference.com Cliff Lee and former teammate Chris Carpenter as pitchers who had terrific peaks but lacked the length for serious Cooperstown consideration. It's an ex-Chip's Worldand we're just picking up the pieces. St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright joins Scott Braun, Erik Kratz, Todd Frazier, and AJ Pierzynski to talk about his final season and the legacy he's. Even having covered the progress of 17 mid- and late-career players in these two installments, there are a handful who have posted JAWS gains that would fit on the leaderboards and about whom people have questions regarding their Hall progress. Enter your email address to get a new one. How much more does Wainwright need to do to make the Hall of Fame in your eyes? The oldest and wisest twin. Just want to take care of some minor inflammation after he ramped up his throwing and pitch counts. MILWAUKEE Adam Wainwright joins Hall of Famer Bob Gibson as the only St. Louis Cardinals pitchers with 2,000 strikeouts, fanning Milwaukees Luis Urias in the fourth inning. For now, all eyes are on Flaherty and Wainwright. All Win Expectancy, Leverage Index, Run Expectancy, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com. What injury? His contract with Washington will keep him in a uniform through 2021, and by then, he should have a strong case. Perhaps (I would argue this is more likely) a new narrative arc would emergeWainwright, say, grits through physical pain to guide the Cardinals to the 2022 World Series and enters a level of folklore which allows voters to look optimistically upon his borderline statistical case (see: Ortiz, David). Theres a good chance no pitcher will again crack the 300-win plateau, a mark that has been achieved 24 times throughout the sports history. Adam Wainwright on Baseball Reference.. But if it wasn't for . The hot air balloon . Twenty-eight are enshrined in Cooperstown everyone except Wainwright and his fellow active hurlers Scherzer, Justin Verlander and Clayton Kershaw, the latter trio of whom are expected to glide in Cooperstown, as well as Roger Clemens, Tommy John, Luis Tiant, Jerry Koosman, Rick Reuschel, Kevin Brown and Vida Blue. He's a hell of a pitcher and even better human being. Wainwright is a Hall of Fame person, and a very good pitcher. In the five innings Wainwright yielded eight hits and four earned runs for a 7.20 ERA. This adds up to a solid career, and one that would be worthy of the Hall of Very Good, but not the Hall of Fame. Adam Wainwright K's McCormick. He struck out 14 in his MLB debut and it seemed evident that he and Bryce Harper were going to lead the team to not only a World Series championship, but multiple titles. Prices highlights include a 2012 Cy Young award, two ERA titles, and five 200-strikeout seasons. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. The good news is that Sale is missing bats and taking names, offering hope that the 32-year-old lefty can resume a quest for Cooperstown that was beginning to come into focus before he was injured. Adam Wainwright was glad to see Jason Isringhausen enter the Cardinals Hall of Fame: "He had a profound impact on my career and helped me dramatically." PITTSBURGH, PA - AUGUST 28: Adam Wainwright #50 of, the St. Louis Cardinals applauds after a defensive play by Nolan Arenado #28 in the first inning during the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on August 28, 2021 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Zack Greinke has had an interesting career. Adam Wainwright in 2021 His lifetime ERA is 3.35 and has dropped nearly a tenth of a point over the last two seasons. While wins arent everything, Ive chosen to list them chronologically by career win total as a benchmark of evaluation. {* traditionalSignIn_signInButton *}, Comment and participate in our online community. The Cardinals and starting pitching and injuries. Adam Wainwright has the second-most WAR of any Cardinals pitcher all-time (44.5). While Drew was a fine player throughout his career, he would only spend the 2004 season with the Braves. Moving to Adam Wainwright, the 40-year-old moved into second in pitching WAR (again, as calculated by Baseball Reference) last season, and that is where he will stay. With 273 homers, Goldschmidt could reach 300 by the end of next season, though with 1,539 hits, the 2,000 milestone and real clarity on his fate is probably three seasons away. He surpassed 200 wins in 2019 (hes at 219 now), but with his strikeout rate dipping from 24.5% last year to 17.0% this year, hes still 201 strikeouts away from 3,000 and will probably need two seasons to reach the milestone instead of one. Via his 10 All-Star selections, nine Gold Gloves, two World Series rings, and reputation for handling pitching staffs, Molinas already been anointed presumptive first-ballot honoree status. The best pitcher in MLB? King Felix is still just 31 years old, despite close to 2,500 innings on his right arm. This may not seem particularly grandiose, and probably not even close to Cooperstown worthiness, but it should be noted that with sixty-five elected, starting pitcher is far and away the most commonly enshrined position in the Hall (it has also, pre-bullpen expansion, been the most common position, so this shouldnt be too surprising). Outside of Clayton Kershaw, he may be the most dominant pitcher in the game right now; FanGraphs credits Scherzer with more WAR than any non-Kershaw pitcher (25.9) since 2013. Wainwright is absolutely not going to make it to Cooperstown, and the numbers say he shouldn't, but you can squint and you can cherry-pick statistics to make an argument for Wainwright if you enter with an agenda. One Wainwright is a lot closer to establishing than perhaps even he realizes. As a result, Ive chosen not to include him on this article. NeverSober1900. The just-turned-40-year-old is currently in the midst of a late-career renaissance (2.97 ERA, 3.1 WAR), leaving many to wonder. ago. St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright's Hall of Fame chances could be dampened by circumstances out of his control. But is 40-year-old Adam Wainwright starting for the visiting Cardinals against the Dodgers in the winner-take-all tilt also on his way to joining Scherzer in the Hall of Fame? He was the first pitcher aged 39 or older since Mike Mussina in 2008 to throw at least 200 innings with an ERA+ of 125 or better. Fantasy baseball: Which prospects have fantasy value in 2023? Drew move to Atlanta. I try to stay out of it as much as possible.. He answers the tough question on if his legacy is enough to get him into the MLB Hall of Fame alongside the all-time greats.Follow all our social media channels for more content!https://twitter.com/FoulTerritoryTVhttps://www.instagram.com/foulterritoryshow/https://www.tiktok.com/@foulterritoryshowhttps://www.facebook.com/FoulTerritoryShowhttps://www.twitch.tv/foulterritoryshow Even if he retired now, Verlander has likely done enough to ensure a plaque in Cooperstown. 2/4/18 Super Bowl champs. He became a member of the Cardinals when the Atlanta Braves traded him for J.D. Hall of Very Good. This will undoubtedly hurt Wainwright's bid for the Hall of Fame. Wainwright had won nine of 10 decisions coming in. A Hall of Fame-bound pitcher is slated to take the mound in the top of the first inning of tonights NL wild card game. Hes produced 5.0 WAR with his pitching but -0.6 WAR with his hitting with a remarkable .000/.000/.000 line taking this no-hitter thing a bit too literally through 50 PA; on Wednesday night, he surpassed Wei-Yin Chens record for season-opening futility, set in 2016. As noted above, for the past few election cycles, Ive turned away from reliever JAWS in favor of a hybrid metric using WAR, WPA, and WPA/LI. Adam Wainwrights hybrid JAWS of 41.6 is a fair amount behind that of Dwight Gooden, and closing a 6.4 point gap is going to be a tall order. Adam's parents had a rocky marriage, and they split up when he was around seven years old. The three Cy Young Awards should be enough to get him into the Hall of Fame. Its only the normal spring-training grind, building up arm strength, minor inflammation, no reason to think hell have to go on the IL, our trainers feel good about it. Likewise, his 42.4 bWAR is lower than the likes of Javier Vazquez, Al Leiter, and Frank Viola. Upon losing in the Wild Card round, the franchise's attention shifted to the offseason and what will happen to some of their aging players. After slaying the October beast that had haunted him for so many years, Kershaw pitched reasonably well through the first three months of the season, posting a 3.39 ERA and 2.98 FIP the latter his lowest mark since 2016 in 106.1 innings. In the spirit of giving my readers what they want, heres a lightning round, where Ill keep things uncharacteristically brief. St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright joins Scott Braun, Erik Kratz, Todd Frazier, and AJ Pierzynski to talk about his final season and the legacy he's left behind. Central Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto headlines the list of players in the National League West who are on track to have a chance to make it into baseball's Hall of Fame. Sabathia has a chance to become the 17th pitcher in history to record 3,000 strikeouts, which would give his candidacy a boost. Annual promotional dates for the Purina Pooches in the Ballpark game and Edward Jones Cardinals Hall of Fame Weekend are scheduled for April 30 and August 26-28, respectively. How Corbin Burnes became an ace by making his bed, Top moments from Brady, Manning, Jordan and other athletes hosting 'Saturday Night Live', Fantasy baseball rankings, projections, strategy and cheat sheets, Spring batting averages, runs up amid shift limits. This is a veteran, and he knows what he needs to do. 3rd stage: Well, his arm hasnt rebounded the way we were hoping for, so were just going to shut him down and see how he responds. At least hes in better shape than 31-year-old Freddie Freeman (41.8/32.1/37.0, +1.5 JAWS), who only recently surpassed last years 3.3 WAR. Wainwright was a three time All Star and two time Gold Glove winner, finishing in the top three of the NL Cy Young vote four times. While Pujols and Molina are guaranteed to enter the Hall of Fame, Wainwright's case is a tricky one to say the least. Your email address will not be published. Adam Wainwright will return for his 19th season with the. His draft stock suggests he has the ability to be a top-tier pitcher, but as of now, hes not on a Cooperstown track. I like that its a round number, but I assure you that this is merely a coincidence. Scherzer and Hernandez are among a group of pitchers at somewhat similar points in their potential Hall of Fame paths; Verlander, Cole Hamels, Zack Greinke, Adam Wainwright and Jon Lester are in . 76-43, 3.18 ERA, 1,183 strikeouts, 124 adjusted ERA. Its available on your preferred podcast platform. No Gavin Lux -- big problem. The Cardinals are calm. This is the first time since 2010 that all three are in . However, the future Cardinals Hall of Famer is coming off a 2022 season in which he lost velocity, suffered a decline in swing . Yadier Molinas career FanGraphs WAR shot up 18.4 wins in one day, The 2022 St. Louis Cardinals and the next generational passage St. Louis Bullpen. But Wainwright proved his solid 2020 wasnt a brief mirage. Sales unconventional windup seems to leave open the idea of Tommy John surgery or at least a serious injury, but he has averaged 30 starts per season since entering the rotation in 12. He threw two no-hitters in the same season and tied the major league record with 20 strikeouts in a nine-inning game. He was traded to St. Louis in 2003 from the Braves in a deal that saw outfielder J.D. The slugger hit .274 with 32 homers and 97 RBIs in 160 games last year. But is it a Hall of Fame caliber career? Sabermetrics lover. Jos Ramirez, third base (32.8 career | 31.5 Peak | 32.1 JAWS, +4.0 JAWS). deGrom has already racked up significant value even while qualifying for the ERA title only five times in eight seasons. I sincerely hope Flaherty is fine and that theres no reason for concern. On Wednesday, I took a swing at a question often asked of me: Which players have helped their Hall of Fame cases the most this year? He founded the Futility Infielder website (2001), was a columnist for Baseball Prospectus (2005-2012) and a contributing writer for Sports Illustrated (2012-2018). Hey, at least the Cardinals added a proven, quality big-league starting pitcher this past offseason. Gibson got his 2,000th strikeout when Pittsburghs Roberto Clemente was called out on July 13, 1969. It's a career that includes 10 All-Star Games, nine Gold Gloves, four Platinum Gloves, two World Series titles and plenty of adulation from the St. Louis area and beyond. According to tracking done by Baseball Reference he faced mostly Double A hitters. Though hes overcome health scares and worked hard to expand his arsenal to become less reliant upon his cutter, Jansen has continued to take Dodgers fans on a rollercoaster this season. Yadier Molina is arguably one of the best defensive catchers in the history of baseball. On 30-8-1981 Adam Wainwright (nickname: Adam) was born in Brunswick, Georgia, United States. All picks and predictions are suggestions only. His velocity has dropped again, though Wainwright did push it up a little in his second start. It is possible that the same will be the case for a third Cardinals legend. He went 119-66 with a 2.96 ERA from 2007-15, a span in which only Kershaw had a lower ERA among pitchers with at least 1,000 innings pitched. Justin Verlander has pulled off one of the rare accomplishments for a pitcher winning a league MVP award. Flahertys exhibition-season debut was supposed to happen Saturday, but now the assignment has been switched to Sunday. Injuries have me dubious that Chris Sale will ever accumulate the WAR necessary to reach the Cooperstown threshold, but hes only barely going to be 33 come Opening Day, so Im not closing the book just yet. Your favorite teams, topics, and players all on your favorite mobile devices. He was merely a good pitcher on the Detroit Tigers, vastly overshadowed by teammate Justin Verlander. But compared to Molina or especially Pujols, Adam Wainwright is an underdog. Hernandez also holds the distinction of having been the last MLB pitcher to throw a perfect game (2012). He has led the league in strikeouts three times, including a 300-strikeout season in 2018. Hes still going strong, as hes tops in the NL in wins (8) in 2017. While it seems impossible to envision it now, Wainwright was not always a member of the St. Louis Cardinals. Adam Wainwright (44.0 career | 35.5 Peak | 39.8 JAWS, +2.1 JAWS). For relievers, Im using the WAR-and-WPA hybrid stat via which Ive examined recent candidates such as Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, and Billy Wagner. Before going down, he made solid progress towards the 200-win and 3,000 strikeout milestones; hes at 184 and 2,653, respectively, the latter thanks to a 30.1% strikeout rate, his best since 2016. It airs Monday through Thursday from 3-6 p.m. and Friday from 4-6 p.m. You can listen by streaming online or by downloading the show podcast at 590thefan.com or the 590 app. Flaherty is calm. Still, Hernandez has quite a resume over the last decade hes been named to six All-Star teams, won 156 games for a perennially-losing franchise that hasnt sniffed the postseason, and hes won a Cy Young award to go with multiple ERA titles. Now, Adam Wainwright at any age, while once one of the best pitchers in the sport, never put a season quite that good. To be clear, Adam Wainwright will certainly make it onto the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, and based on the ease with which even seemingly fringe candidates are able to garner them, will probably get some votes. Chris Sale keeps getting better with age, and with the way hes ben mowing down hitters in a 2017 free agent year, hes going to earn a lucrative $200 million deal in the offseason. It may rile up some traditionalists who are married to the idea pitchers must win 300 games and strike out 3,000 batters to be considered Hall-worthy. 122-66, 3.24 ERA, 1,621 strikeouts, 123 adjusted ERA. During the 2022 regular season, 'Waino' finished with a record of 11-12 and 3.71 ERA in 191.2 innings, while also racking up 143 strikeouts. 34. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.