But Adam Wainwrights story also isnt complete. Still, hes won 230 games, led the league in wins twice, and won a Cy Young award and a World Series ring. But Wainwright still had good value because he supplied 192 innings. Well know more about Jacks Comeback after he makes his first two or three pitching appearances in the Florida game. However, their overall record forced the Cards to play a Wild Card series against Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies. But even if we throw 2020 out, Flaherty averaged only 57 innings of work over the last two years. . Wainwright went 41-28 with a 4.58 ERA (an ERA+ of 90, or 10 percent below league average) from 2016 through 2019. This isnt your fathers Hall of Fame. St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright may have ended a solid career. The Cardinals and starting pitching and injuries. It is possible that the same will be the case for a third Cardinals legend. But I want to consider Adam Wainwrights Hall of Fame case as a purely statistical candidate based on the statistics we currently have. After doing some [strength] assessments, its something he can solve. As for R-JAWS, hes entered the top 20, but as he approaches both his 34th birthday and free agency, the question of how many more years hell be trusted to handle the ninth inning looms. Despite dealing with shoulder soreness and some rough stretches, Greinke the active leader in JAWS has pitched an AL-high 159.2 innings, though he will probably get overtaken after landing on the COVID-19 IL on Tuesday. Guerrero was seen walking toward the clubhouse with an athletic trainer in the second inning and was replaced defensively by Rainer Nunez to start the third. Hes made two starts this spring, covering five total innings. 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. His 2011 season, in which he went 24-5 with a 2.40 ERA and led the league in a slew of categories wins, ERA, games started, innings pitched, strikeouts, WHIP, adjusted ERA, and hits allowed per nine innings earned him a distinction that hadnt been accomplished since Roger Clemens in 1986. Prices highlights include a 2012 Cy Young award, two ERA titles, and five 200-strikeout seasons. He was merely a good pitcher on the Detroit Tigers, vastly overshadowed by teammate Justin Verlander. Adam Wainwright joined Hall of Famer Bob Gibson as the only St. Louis Cardinals pitchers with 2,000 strikeouts, fanning Milwaukee's Luis Uras in the fourth inning Thursday. Still, just one top-10 Cy Young award finish wont get him in the Hall of Fame. All betting content is intended for an audience ages 21+. Please logout and login again. This is a question that has been frequently raised throughout the season as the Cardinals' 'Big Three' (Pujols, Wainwright, Molina) were constantly praised by St. Louis fans. Hes got a long ways to go to reach 200 wins (he has 112), but hes already at 2,031 strikeouts. Wainwright, however, has a much more finite timetablehe has announced that he is retiring. No Gavin Lux -- big problem. The Cardinals are calm. Enter your email address to get a new one. Hes pitched for five teams in two different leagues, which is unusual for a pitcher with such a successful resume. While Drew was a fine player throughout his career, he would only spend the 2004 season with the Braves. He has put together a solid career, posting a 193-114 record with a 3.34 ERA and a 1.208 WHiP over his 2538.2 innings . 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 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. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER. While he has never won a Cy Young Award, he was in the top 3 on four occasions. Wainwrights candidacy as an elite pitcher of his time should strengthen during the five years between his retirement and his first appearance on a Hall of Fame ballot. Adam Wainwright is the greatest St. Louis Cardinals pitcher since Bob Gibson, and arguably the greatest St. Louis Cardinals pitcher in history other than Bob Gibson. But if youd told me four years ago when his career looked absolutely left for dead that I would even half-heartedly entertain the notion, I would have doubted that even more. No ones winning 300 games again, probably, Maybe there will be a couple guys that have a chance Claytons got a chance, Max maybe. Todays pitcher will make it more for efficiency. 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. Adam Wainwright Stats. He went 17-7 with 174 strikeouts and a 3.05 ERA in 32 starts spanning 206 1/3 innings the third-highest total in the majors. 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. Follow Cody Swartz on Twitter (@cbswartz5). The 35-year-old has a career record of 169-89 with a 3.19 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 2,682 strikeouts. Wainwright has certainly had a long and successful career, but has it been enough to warrant enshirement in the Hall of Fame? 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? When Adam Wainwright decides to hang up his cleats, the St.. The slugger hit .274 with 32 homers and 97 RBIs in 160 games last year. But at least it wont be historically egregious. . He produced the worst set of metrics in a full season in his career. Its my belief that this as-yet-unnamed metric which Im hoping to formalize in time for the upcoming election cycle does a better job of emphasizing closers rather than starters-turned-relievers who racked up significant WAR in the rotations before making the move to roles more fireman-like than closer-like; it bumps the likes of Tom Gordon, Ellis Kinder, Bobby Shantz, and Kerry Wood down several pegs. Actually, its two starting pitchers: Jack Flaherty and Adam Wainwright. . The greatest lineups ever? Im not sure its a good idea for Wainwright to proceed with his WBC plans, but the Cardinals wont stop him from going. Brooklyn-based Jay Jaffe is a senior writer for FanGraphs, the author of The Cooperstown Casebook (Thomas Dunne Books, 2017) and the creator of the JAWS (Jaffe WAR Score) metric for Hall of Fame analysis. Its an unfortunate injury that was sustained to of all places his throwing shoulder. Be the first one to comment on this story. 163-103, 3.40 ERA, 2,125 strikeouts, 122 adjusted ERA. Sure there are. Wainwright was between 38 and 40 years old in this stretch. Wainwright attributed the late 2022 freefall to a hitch in his delivery after hed been struck on the knee by a batted ball. His career just does not stack up to that level. If he can maintain this kind of dominance for a few more years, hell get to Cooperstown. Adam Wainwright is the quintessential "Hall of Fame candidate for Cardinals fans" Hall of Fame candidate of the current team. For the last 35 years Bernie Miklasz has entertained, enlightened, and connected with generations of St. Louis sports fans. Saturday marked the end of an era for the St. Louis Cardinals. Gibson got his 2,000th strikeout when Pittsburgh's Roberto Clemente was called out on July 13, 1969. But I just want to know how far back I would have to dig to find an age-40 season in which a pitcher was good enough to get Adam Wainwright to this level of Hall of Fame worthiness. Sabermetrics lover. Interestingly enough, he missed the entire 2011 season for the world champion St. Louis Cardinals, but he did play an integral role as a closer in the 2006 playoffs, throwing 9.2 scoreless innings in the playoffs. His 195 career wins have him tied for 132nd all-time, and his career strikeouts currently have him sitting 71st all-time. But over the last three seasons, Jack has pitched only 154 innings. His cutter was next, dropping from his 2022 average of 84.3 mph to 80.8 mph, and his curveball decreased from 72.9 mph to 70.2 mph.. Cy Young awards, no-hitters, and ERA titles may be better methods for evaluating the 21st century pitcher than the sheer outdated statistic of wins.. And if the Sox do pick up his option, he is by no means a lock to pass Eckersley in saves next year if Hendriks gets most of the chances. Dont hold your breath. In the five innings Wainwright yielded eight hits and four earned runs for a 7.20 ERA. But in evaluating Wainwright by the standards of the modern starting pitchers, he has a path albeit a narrow one that requires him to sustain his late-30s rebirth for at least one and possibly two more seasons that seemed impossible when he was in the midst of an extended sunset phase late in the 2010s. By checking this box, I agree to the terms of service and privacy policy of Rogers Media. But Wainwright proved his solid 2020 wasnt a brief mirage. Hell need more to get his name in the HOF conversation, namely multiple Cy Young award victories and a pivotal role in a Boston World Series championship. Justin Verlander has pulled off one of the rare accomplishments for a pitcher winning a league MVP award. Theyll defer. 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. 141-80, 3.23 ERA, 1,547 strikeouts, 124 adjusted ERA. Play-by-play data prior to 2002 was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted Sabathia has a chance to become the 17th pitcher in history to record 3,000 strikeouts, which would give his candidacy a boost. I am a big fan, not as a universal absolute but as a general guideline, of the Jay Jaffe JAWS system, a thing I have mentioned repeatedly in my writing, though I also prefer to use a hybrid model which incorporates a players career performance and his seven best individual seasons (his peak) as measured not only by Baseball Reference but by FanGraphs (in most non-catcher cases, over the course of a career, this doesnt make a huge difference, but in the most discussed cases, the margins are so thin that I am happy to look at as much data as possible). 2/4/18 Super Bowl champs. 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. Wainwright had won nine of 10 decisions coming in. Major League and Minor League Baseball data provided by Major League Baseball. Or follow @seeingredpod on Twitter for a direct link. Its a shame because he was off to a great start to his season, with 1.9 WAR and a 195 OPS+ in just 36 games. He has led the league in strikeouts three times, including a 300-strikeout season in 2018. Yadier Molina is arguably one of the best defensive catchers in the history of baseball. David Price is older than he seems; hes already 32 in a few months with just 122 career wins. 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. Adam Wainwright has the second-most WAR of any Cardinals pitcher all-time (44.5). Albert Pujols is, barring something unforseen, going to easily sail into the National Baseball Hall of FameI always feel the need to add a caveat since uncodified steroid accusations have already kept one of the few modern hitters unreservedly superior to Pujols out of the Hall of Fame, though seeing David Ortiz make it does give me hope that Albert Pujols being a nice guy that everyone in baseball media seems to like would provide sufficient cushion to whatever random conjecture somebody wants to throw out into the discourse. 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. One other thing to note: since my reference point for old WAR and JAWS figures dates back to January 2021, some portion of these players gains may be due to updates to bWAR itself, particularly via changes to 19 and 20 park factors and tweaks to 201720 Defensive Runs Saved that were announced in March, but also due to a second update to 2020 park factors that just went live on Tuesday. Im skeptical only because of the history of how the Cardinals do this when a pitcher doesnt pitch, or takes a delay before his next assignment. A frequently cited statistic for determining Hall worthiness is the average production of a Hall of Famer at that position, though my preferred approach is to consider a players worthiness not according to the average at a position among a subset of players who are sometimes transcendent and sometimes unworthy, but rather to ask, Is this guy the (fill in ordinal number of Hall of Famers at position) best (fill in position) ever? By Hybrid JAWS, Yadier Molina is the 13th greatest catcher of all-time (two of the ones ahead of him, Buster Posey and Joe Mauer, are not yet Hall-eligible), and there are sixteen catchers in the Hall of Fame. 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. It's an ex-Chip's Worldand we're just picking up the pieces. {* backButton *} Drew move to Atlanta. 34. Gibson got his 2,000th strikeout when Pittsburghs Roberto Clemente was called out on July 13, 1969. King Felix is still just 31 years old, despite close to 2,500 innings on his right arm. But he didnt become a full-time starter until his age-24 season, and hes now pitched for a quarter of the American League teams. Ill assume that FanGraphss weirdly defensive stance against Wainwrights pursuit of bulletin board material has subsided by then. Yadier Molina, catcher (58.1 career fWAR (incl. Sep 14, 2022; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright (50) pitches against the Milwaukee Brewers during the fifth inning at Busch Stadium. by Handedness, Seven Pitchers (and Some More Position Players) Who Have Most Helped Their Hall of Fame Cases in 2021. I highly doubt it. He missed large chunks of his playing career due to injuries, and while this has not always been a deal-breaker for Cooperstown, Wainwrights perfectly fine peak was hardly that of go-to example Sandy Koufax. Ad Choices While a Cy Young Award does not guarantee entry, it certainly helps. Heres a report on Wainwrights Thursday start against the Astros from The Athletics Katie Woo: The velocity on all five of the pitches in his mix averaged between 3-4 mph slower than their average readings in 2022. His sinker averaged 84.9 mph, a 3.7 percent decrease from 2022. Hes certainly on pace for the Hall, but a lot of it will depend on how he can rebound following his off-the-field motorcycle accident. Required fields are marked *. 9 mo. He'll retire with honors and accolades, becoming a fine coach and St. Louis area legend. Likewise, his 42.4 bWAR is lower than the likes of Javier Vazquez, Al Leiter, and Frank Viola. JAWS and peak (WAR7) gains are the major drivers of this, but positional standards, traditional milestones, and ordinal rankings are considerations as well. But the Cardinals and the pitcher Cardinals changed the schedule for his first start; Flaherty threw on the backfields instead. deGrom has already racked up significant value even while qualifying for the ERA title only five times in eight seasons. The minute Adam Wainwright is eligible, he will easily cruise into the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame, with the only possible road block being if he gets caught in the midst of a logjam with Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina (though if the Cardinals were ever going to make an exception and admit three people in one year, this would seemingly be the case). Seconds later, told his numbers stack up well to wild card-era pitchers who are either already enshrined or have solid Hall of Fame cases, the famously good-natured Wainwright a night removed from saying he struck out Jeff McNeil looking to leave the bases loaded because I like nostalgia and he wanted to give Mets fans what they want grinned again. Perhaps his national profile and general likability increases due to his seemingly inevitable second act as a broadcasterWainwright received rave reviews as a postseason broadcaster last yearand this media visibility helps him in a media-driven contest such as Hall of Fame balloting. If this is the end, Wainwright is leaving behind a solid career. The oldest and wisest twin. While best known for his voice as the lead sports columnist at the Post-Dispatch for 26 years, Bernie has also written for The Athletic, Dallas Morning News and Baltimore News American. His contract (seven years, $175 million) ensures he will pitch in Seattle at least through 2019, but his velocity numbers and declining ERA suggest his career may be on the downside. Although Gooden was one-and-done when he reached the ballot in 2006, his extraordinary peak meant he probably deserved more of a look. Wainwright is one of 39 pitchers to record at least 180 wins, 2,000 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.40 or lower while making at least 350 starts and throwing at least 2,300 innings. No Cy's (albeit 4 top 3 finishes). Bernie invites you to listen to his opinionated and analytical sports-talk show on 590 The Fan, KFNS-AM. and play-by-play data provided by Sports Info Solutions. Adam Wainwright was born on the 30th of August, 1981. 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. Among the sixty-five (again, the number of Hall of Fame starting pitchers) greatest starting pitchers in history, five are either currently active or retired but not yet Hall eligibleJustin Verlander, Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer, Zack Greinke, and CC Sabathia. Maybe he has it in him to stick around for another 20 wins to get to 200, but he might not even crack the top 100 in JAWS while doing so. His induction was most likely heavily influenced by his passing, but I think sets the bar for what a pitcher needs to have accomplished in recent years. 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. So basically what Im saying is that if Adam Wainwright has a once-every-seventy-five-years season, he should probably make it into Cooperstown. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Poll : Should Adam Wainwright be in the Hall of Fame? A couple of guys are sore but its OK, everything is fine, nothing to worry about, dont know why the media is making a fuss over this, were just being careful, just holding the pitcher back by a day to be on the safe side, hes looking great, hes getting his work in, theres no need to push it. Bernie has hosted radio shows in St. Louis, Dallas, Baltimore and Washington D.C. Bernie, his wife Kirsten and their cats reside in the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood of St. Louis. 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. As if on schedule, we have our first spring-training round of Is Anything Wrong? with the pitcher. What's the Dodgers' plan at shortstop? He was the MVP of the 2014 World Series after two dominant starts and then five scoreless innings off the bench in Game 7, and hes been a key contributor to three championship teams. All WAR (and WPA) figures here refer to the Baseball Reference version, unless otherwise indicated. The 40-year-old right-hander became the ninth active pitcher with 2,000. Adam Wainwright has a big decision to make this offseason. He was hit hard four balls hit off him registered exit velocities higher than 104 mph, including a 112.1 mph solo moonshot of a homer off the bat of Jos Abreu. And while deGromcontinued to blast 100-mph fastball after 100-mph fastball past hitterseven while missing turns here and there due to what were believed (by the Mets, at least) to be minor and disconnected injuries, he finally landed on the IL in early July with forearm inflammation. 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. 156-111, 3.18 ERA, 2,286 strikeouts, 126 adjusted ERA. Its not like hes been injury-prone; Price has led the league in games started three times and innings pitched twice. At least not for starting pitchers. Adam Wainwright Future Hall of Fame Candidates: N.L. He, of course, can retract this, but as he is now in his 40s, Im inclined to believe hes serious. There are some people that feel Wainwright will join his legendary teammates in Cooperstown at some point in time, a trio of Hall of Famers all departing the Cardinals at the same time. However, not all stories have happy endings. That may be what landed him on the disabled list with shoulder inflammation this year. He trailed 5-0 on a pair of home runs by Tyrone Taylor, a grand slam in the first inning and a solo shot in the fourth. The best pitcher in MLB? Adam WainWright's MLB stats are Win-loss record 195-115, Earned run average 3.35 and Strikeouts 2,142. 177-110, 3.51 ERA, 2,272 strikeouts, 122 adjusted ERA. . But compared to Molina or especially Pujols, Adam Wainwright is an underdog. Given the way hes been pitching as of late, thats certainly not farfetched. Its an impressive resume, and one that has him as a top-10 starting pitcher of the last decade, but its just not enough for Cooperstown. Sale went two years and a day between major league outings due to elbow inflammation, a flexor tendon strain, and Tommy John surgery, but hes made a solid return so far, with a 2.53 ERA and 27.9% strikeout rate through four starts. 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. 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. Aroldis Chapman (18.5 WAR | 19.9 WPA | 12.0 WPA/LI | 16.8 R-JAWS, +0.6 R-JAWS). Even if he retired now, Verlander has likely done enough to ensure a plaque in Cooperstown. He is known for being a Baseball Player. 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. Fantasy baseball: Which prospects have fantasy value in 2023? The Cardinals looked like one of the best teams in the National League throughout the 2022 regular season, finishing with a record of 93-69, winning the NL Central Division in the process. I sincerely hope Flaherty is fine and that theres no reason for concern. His 2.2 WAR, meanwhile, edged him closer to the career standard (73.3). This year, however, the biggest stars of Opening Day will be three players in Cardinals jerseys who all have legitimate shots of someday being in baseball's Hall of Fame themselves. Since then, hes made the All-Star team every year, led the league in wins on three occasions, and won a Cy Young award in each league. Pujols, Wainwright and Molina were each given an introduction and trotted out to the diamond to be greeted by 16 Cardinals Hall of Famers. Hey, at least the Cardinals added a proven, quality big-league starting pitcher this past offseason. Waino certainly isn't a National Hall of Famer, but there is an argument for the Cardinals Hall of Fame for sure. 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. 5th stage: 60-day IL. Gerrit Cole (117 wins at age 31) and Chris Sale (114 wins at age 32) are the likeliest active pitchers to approach Wainwrights total. But the guys that have got in recently just have been the best at the craft for a decade, Wainwright said. Strasburg hasnt been a disappointment, but he also hasnt lit the world on fire. Adam Wainwright (44.0 career | 35.5 Peak | 39.8 JAWS, +2.1 JAWS). He became a member of the Cardinals when the Atlanta Braves traded him for J.D. 230-143, 3.70 ERA, 2,788 strikeouts, 117 adjusted ERA. Wainwright did not factor into the decision, allowing five runs on four hits in four innings. All Win Expectancy, Leverage Index, Run Expectancy, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com. Price (155 wins) is the only active pitcher within 30 wins of Wainwright, with Cueto (135) and Bumgarner (127) much further behind. "Adam Wainwright is going to have such an interesting Hall of Fame case once he retires." - Connor Looker Throughout his career, Wainwright has won a World Series and has been selected to. Actually, it's two starting pitchers: Jack Flaherty and Adam Wainwright. 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 what might have been if not for the injuries that effectively cost him three seasons from ages 29 to 36. 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. I found 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. Strikeouts are booming like never before. Between that, his three Cy Youngs, and eight All-Star appearances, hes probably punched his ticket even before getting to 200 wins (hes at 187). The bad news is that hell finish his age-35 season still short of 1,200 hits (hes at 1,156), meaning that hed have to average at least 160 a total he hasnt reached since 2016 through his age-40 season just to reach the all-important 2,000. Its early, its the process, hell be ready to go when its time to go. Even 250 wins is a rare accomplishment at this point. St. Louis Cardinals news fromFanSided Daily, Former San Francisco Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval heading to LBPRC, Aroldis Chapmans time with New York Yankees comes to inglorious end, Wild Card wrap-up: Mets, Cardinals regular-season paper tigers, Opening Odds for MLB Division Series (Every Team's Odds to Win the ALDS, NLCS), St. Louis Cardinals: Oli Marmol's perfect quote about Wild Card Game 2, Phillies-Cardinals: Bryce Harper wants just 1 thing from Yadier Molina, Decision points: The key moments from Friday's MLB Wild Card games. Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer just had seasons that good in 2018. (Beltran) was frozen on an 0-2 Adam Wainwright curveball with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th. Rile people up.. But lets see: frequently injured pitcher, already off schedule in spring training, not quite prepared for a full-on pitching test. Are there baseball seasons good enough to get Adam Wainwright past Dwight Gooden? Queried about his Cooperstown credentials during the Cardinals visit to Citi Field last month, Wainwright grinned while seemingly acknowledging his counting numbers he has 184 wins and 2,004 strikeouts are not going to measure up to most of the starting pitchers enshrined in Cooperstown. This year he was so good that he accrued 5.1 WAR (including 0.6 on the offensive side) in his 15 starts before going down, his fourth-highest total.
is adam wainwright a hall of famer
