Cardinals veteran pitcher is done for the season and his career

Adam Wainwright will not throw another pitch for the St. Louis Cardinals, manager Oliver Marmol told reporters (including John Denton of MLB.com). His season is officially over, and with that, so ends his phenomenal career.

Cardinals fans were holding out hope that the 18-year veteran might make one more start at Busch Stadium, but the pain he has been dealing with in his back and shoulder has simply become too much to bear. 

He twirled a gem in his last outing, tossing seven scoreless against the Brewers to earn his 200th career victory. As his manager explained, the 42-year-old used “every ounce of what was left in that arm” that evening. 

Indeed, it was far and away his best performance of the year; he had not thrown seven innings in a start or made a scoreless appearance since August 2022. In what has largely been a disappointing season, Wainwright mustered the strength of his former self one last time.

While Wainwright will not pitch again, Marmol kept the door open for the possibility of a pinch-hit plate appearance. Before the designated hitter came to the National League, the 6-foot-7 righty was one of the better hitting pitchers in the game. 

He hit 10 home runs in his career, including two in 2017, when he won the Silver Slugger. If he does not take another at-bat, he will finish with a .194/.222/.294 slash line, perfectly respectable numbers for a man who made his living on the mound.

As Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports, Wainwright will only step to the plate against the Reds during the final series of the season if Cincinnati has either clinched a postseason berth or already been eliminated from contention. 

Marmol will not give up an opportunity to play spoiler against a division rival. As enjoyable as it would be to see Wainwright take one last at-bat, that’s no reason not to play competitive baseball.

Any potential pinch-hitting appearance aside, this marks the end of a wonderful career for the Cardinals legend. In 478 games, Wainwright pitched to a 3.53 ERA, earning Cy Young votes in five separate seasons. 

He is a three-time All-Star, a two-time Gold Glove winner, and a World Series champion. Perhaps most impressive of all, he spent his entire career with a single franchise, an increasingly rare occurrence in this day and age. He ranks second all-time among Cardinals pitchers in strikeouts and third in wins.