Michael Wacha Is A Workhorse, Reaches 1,500 Career Innings Pitched

Michael Wacha pitched seven scoreless innings and reached a personal career milestone on Wednesday when he logged his 1500th inning pitched in Kansas City’s 2-1 win over the Chicago White Sox. To reach such an impressive number, he has played for 13 seasons, and there are only 20 active players who have reached it.

Wacha Reaches Impressive Milestone

Drafted from Texas A&M by the St. Louis Cardinals as the 19th overall pick in the 2012 draft, Wacha has amassed a career 18 WAR in 286 games, 265 as a starter. Over that period, he has posted a 103-66 record with a 3.86 ERA. He has been a workhorse, posting at least 120 innings in the majority of his seasons.

He made his Major League debut for the Cardinals on May 30th, 2013, against the team he represents now in the Royals. Pitching seven strong innings, he only gave up one run on two hits with no walks and six strikeouts. He showed off his healthy blend of fastballs and changeups, striking out the first batter he faced and the first 13.

He pitched for the Cardinals from 2013 to 2019. He was the National League Championship Series MVP in 2013, and he made the All-Star team in 2015. His best year came in that All-Star season, where he finished 17-7 with a 3.38 ERA. 

Post-Cardinals Career

After the 2019 season, he signed a one-year deal with the New York Mets, but struggled in his small taste with them. He only pitched 34 innings and just never found his footing, although this was the shortened season, so we can throw an asterisk on it. He spent 2021 with the Tampa Bay Rays but struggled over 29 games, going 3-5 with a 5.05 ERA.

He rebounded in 2022 and 2023, pitching for the Boston Red Sox and the San Diego Padres, respectively. He had 23 starts for the Red Sox, going 11-2 with a 3.32 ERA, and 24 for the Padres, going 14-4 with a 3.32 ERA. These last two years started to turn the heads of teams that wanted to give him more of a chance than a one-year deal.

At the end of the 2023 season, he hit free agency and found a new home in the Royals, who inked him to a three-year, $51 million deal. Wacha, so far, has been pitching strong, reviving his career and helping the Royals have one of the strongest couple of seasons in the entire league. He has been keeping runners off the bases and runs off the board. The Royals are really hoping he can keep it up, with signs pointing to that he can and will. 

The Royals

The win last night was the Royals‘ 14th in the previous 16 games, and it pushes their win streak to five games. They are hoping to complete a 4-game sweep today at Kauffman Stadium. Even with their impressive play as of late, they are still in third place in the American League Central, but they are right in the mix at the top, only two games behind the first-place Detroit Tigers. It’s going to be a very interesting year in the Central, and exciting to watch down the stretch.