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. 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. Gibson, who died last October, finished with 3,117. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. What a different story we could be telling about 'Waino' had he stayed in Atlanta. But compared to Molina or especially Pujols, Adam Wainwright is an underdog. Hes pitched for five teams in two different leagues, which is unusual for a pitcher with such a successful resume. While Pujols and Molina are guaranteed to enter the Hall of Fame, Wainwright's case is a tricky one to say the least. Adam Parrish Wainwright was born on August 30, 1981, in Brunswick, Georgia. 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. Aroldis Chapman (18.5 WAR | 19.9 WPA | 12.0 WPA/LI | 16.8 R-JAWS, +0.6 R-JAWS). Adam's parents had a rocky marriage, and they split up when he was around seven years old. Flaherty pitched 348 innings over the 2018 and 2019 seasons. He just turned 30 on August 7, and hes already fifth in JAWS and third in peak among center fielders, but this has been largely a lost year due to a right calf strain thats already required the longest recovery time in at least six years. I wouldnt expect Wainwright to be at his best at this stage. Hes endured shoulder miseries and a strained oblique. He's a hell of a pitcher and even better human being. He had a 4.99 ERA in his last 11 starts in 2022 including a 7.22 ERA in his final six starts. After posting a 3.84 expected ERA in 2022, that metric jumped to 4.53 last season. Those skills may eventually result in a spot in the Hall of Fame. But theres no alarm. We didn't recognize that password reset code. Wainwright went 41-28 with a 4.58 ERA (an ERA+ of 90, or 10 percent below league average) from 2016 through 2019. Ill assume that FanGraphss weirdly defensive stance against Wainwrights pursuit of bulletin board material has subsided by then. Saturday marked the end of an era for the St. Louis Cardinals. Adam Wainwright is not a Hall of Famer yet. He entered Thursday 16-7 on. 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. Flaherty insists hes feeling great this spring. 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. The 40-year . As if on schedule, we have our first spring-training round of Is Anything Wrong? with the pitcher. Enter your email address to get a new one. An error has occurred while trying to update your details. Wins may not matter as much these days, but his 195 wins would make him just the seventh player to be inducted as a starting pitcher with fewer than 200 victories. Adam Wainwright (44.0 career | 35.5 Peak | 39.8 JAWS, +2.1 JAWS). Adam Wainwright is going to have such an interesting Hall of Fame case once he retires. While wins arent everything, Ive chosen to list them chronologically by career win total as a benchmark of evaluation. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. deGrom has already racked up significant value even while qualifying for the ERA title only five times in eight seasons. Can Adam Wainwright join St. Louis Cardinals teammates in Hall of Fame? 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). 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. Throughout his career, Wainwright has won a World Series and has been selected to the All-Star game three times. Strikeouts are booming like never before. 2/4/18 Super Bowl champs. Your email address will not be published. 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. Given the way hes been pitching as of late, thats certainly not farfetched. Adam Wainwright is one of the more curious pitchers in baseball, and a recent thread raised a couple questions to me. How many times have we heard a version of this spin when a St. Louis pitcher has some discomfort or just needs a little time to build himself up in spring training? It is not as though a 6.4 WAR season alone would do the trickwhile this would put Wainwright over 50 bWAR and at 56.4 fWAR (assuming he hit 6.4 on both metrics), the impact on Wainwrights peak would be much smaller, since he was reasonably good in his seventh best season under both metrics (3.0 bWAR, 3.9 fWAR). 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. Bumgarner has thrown 36 career innings in the World Series and allowed one earned run. It's an ex-Chip's Worldand we're just picking up the pieces. 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. All betting content is intended for an audience ages 21+. All UZR (ultimate zone rating) calculations are provided courtesy of Mitchel Lichtman. Madison Bumgarner is still just 27 years old, but hes already etched his name into baseball lore as one of the greatest big-game pitchers of all-time. While a Cy Young Award does not guarantee entry, it certainly helps. Follow Cody Swartz on Twitter (@cbswartz5). Adam Wainwright has a big decision to make this offseason. 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. Your existing password has not been changed. He leads MLB in complete games this season at the age of 40, and is MLB's active leader in complete games with 27. 100-70, 2.99 ERA, 1,409 strikeouts, 123 adjusted ERA. 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. Adam Wainwright will return for his 19th season with the. Still, just one top-10 Cy Young award finish wont get him in the Hall of Fame. 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. The good news is that even with a modest 2.6 WAR this year, hes in his seventh-best season and can make tracks towards the third base peak standard (43.1 WAR). By either that mark or traditional reliever JAWS, the 33-year-old Kimbrel is the biggest gainer this year. NeverSober1900. Injuries have plagued Adam Wainwright more than the other pitchers on this list; hes going to be 36 in a few months and hes logged just 1,800 innings due to Tommy John surgery (2011) and an Achilles tendon rupture (2015). Adam Wainwright. Your email address will not be published. Eleven of the sixty-five are below Wainwright in terms of Hybrid JAWS. 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. He became a member of the Cardinals when the Atlanta Braves traded him for J.D. Covering the latest and most controversial news around the world of sports, heavily centered on the Philadelphia Eagles and National Football League. Adam Wainwright Future Hall of Fame Candidates: N.L. That seems to be a pretty good baseline.. Jos Ramirez, third base (32.8 career | 31.5 Peak | 32.1 JAWS, +4.0 JAWS). He has been a recurring guest on MLB Network and a member of the BBWAA since 2011. Next, select your favourite teams and leagues and well show you their latest news and scores in the My Favourites section of the home page. Wainwright is a Hall of Fame person, and a very good pitcher. By checking this box, I agree to the terms of service and privacy policy of Rogers Media. Molina should make the Baseball Hall of Fame while Wainwright will probably fall short, but even so, we need to enjoy the final season with the longtime battery mates on the . His monitor score is only an 87. For now, all eyes are on Flaherty and Wainwright. The Hall of Fame should immortalize the greatest starting pitchers of each era. With eight All-Star selections, three Cy Young awards, and a World Series ring, Kershaw is probably a lock for election already, but reaching and surpassing some major career milestones would further elevate him in the pantheon. 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. (approx 1 - 2 per week). A similarly impressive 2022 and perhaps 2023, though upon signing a one-year extension with the Cardinals last week, Wainwright strongly hinted he would retire alongside longtime batterymate Yadier Molina following next season added to his 2017-14 peak would nudge him ever closer to a Cooperstown-worthy body of work and at the least underline the kind of company hes already keeping. If he misses the first week or so, no big deal. For starters, no pitcher can stay that good for that long. He has a $217 million contract with the Boston Red Sox, and to make the Hall of Fame, he may need another Cy Young award and a dominant performance in a World Series championship. However, their overall record forced the Cards to play a Wild Card series against Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies. He'll retire with honors and accolades, becoming a fine coach and St. Louis area legend. Still, his 2.60 ERA is his lowest since 2017, and his strikeout rate is a solid 29.8%. We've sent an email with instructions to create a new password. 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. Its available on your preferred podcast platform. He is known for being a Baseball Player. 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. When the Washington Nationals took Stephen Strasburg first overall in the 2009 draft, he was one of the most hyped prospects in the games history. Hall of Very Good. Injury? Don't miss out - sign up for our newsletters! (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) Adam Wainwright was one of many players lucky enough to have shared a clubhouse with Scott Rolen, the newest member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.. 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. 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. But lets see: frequently injured pitcher, already off schedule in spring training, not quite prepared for a full-on pitching test. The two were teammates from 2005-07, and Rolen was out at third base when Wainwright recorded the final out of the 2006 World Series for the St. Louis Cardinals.. 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. Guerrero had an RBI single during the first inning in his lone at-bat. King Felix is still just 31 years old, despite close to 2,500 innings on his right arm. However, per his stats, it would not be surprising if he is inducted in his first year of eligibility. 122-66, 3.24 ERA, 1,621 strikeouts, 123 adjusted ERA. (And hes been getting his work in, at least for the most part.) His draft stock suggests he has the ability to be a top-tier pitcher, but as of now, hes not on a Cooperstown track. This doesnt mean that Wainwright definitely deserves to make itTim Hudson, who barely qualified for a second turn on the BBWAA ballot and didnt receive the 5% of votes needed to qualify for a third, ranks ahead of him, for instance. No one should expect to make money from the picks and predictions discussed on this website. This is the first time since 2010 that all three are in . DUNEDIN., Fla. Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. left the spring training game against Tampa Bay with right knee discomfort. The only active pitchers behind Wainwright (2,375 2/3) in the 2,000-inning club are 36-year-old David Price (2,103 1/3), 35-year-old Johnny Cueto (2,034 1/3) and 32-year-old Madison Bumgarner (2,034). 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. Adam Wainwright in 2021 His lifetime ERA is 3.35 and has dropped nearly a tenth of a point over the last two seasons. The hot air balloon . There is a trio of starting pitchers not yet Hall-eligible who rank somewhere between Gooden and WainwrightFlix Hernndez, Cole Hamels, and Chris Sale. Just to be clear, its not an injury deal; its about him not syncing his body up correctly, and he didnt feel like he was getting the leg drive he typically gets, Cardinals manager Oli Marmol said. Well know more about Jacks Comeback after he makes his first two or three pitching appearances in the Florida game. Adam Wainwright will make history as he will become the seventh pitcher in St. Louis Cardinals history to start a game after his 41st birthday. His 133 OPS+ is a step down from his 201218 prime (146), but his .493 SLG is his best since leaving Arizona. 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. 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. by Retrosheet. Were not concerned. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Thats an average of 174 innings per year. Hes made two starts this spring, covering five total innings. (Beltran) was frozen on an 0-2 Adam Wainwright curveball with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th. This is a veteran, and he knows what he needs to do. 5th stage: 60-day IL. The 40-year-old right-hander became the ninth active pitcher with 2,000. 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. But what is particularly interesting to examine with regards to Wainwright is that if Wainwright were elected, he would not even be close to the worst starting pitcher in Cooperstown. The Hall of Stats was built by Adam Darowski, Jeffrey Chupp, and Michael Berkowitz.Follow the Hall of Stats on Twitter or Facebook.The Hall of Stats is open sourced on GitHub.All data is also open and available as a free download. 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 . It is possible that the same will be the case for a third Cardinals legend. 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. Even if he is able to reach the 200 win threshold, will Wainwright find himself enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame? 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. He founded the Futility Infielder website (2001), was a columnist for Baseball Prospectus (2005-2012) and a contributing writer for Sports Illustrated (2012-2018). What would Adam Wainwright need to do in 2022 to deserve Hall of Fame induction? Rile people up..