Team USA gained a valuable starting pitcher on Tuesday when it was announced that St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright would be participating in the World Baseball Classic.
The 41-year-old is the third member of the Cardinals to commit to Team USA, joining MVP Paul Goldschmidt and star third baseman Nolan Arenado.
The Classic will be making its return in 2023 after the COVID-19 pandemic caused it to be cancelled in 2021.
The veteran right-hander has returned to the Cardinals for one final season.
On Twitter, Wainwright retweeted the news about his commitment to Team USA and expressed excitement to represent the United States in the Classic.
Lets get it! Proud to be able to represent our great country in the #WorldBaseballClassic 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 https://t.co/0TyzoyGP5x
— Adam Wainwright (@UncleCharlie50) November 29, 2022
Wainwright Joins Team USA
Wainwright has spent 17 seasons in the Major Leagues, all with the Cardinals.
In those 17 seasons, the ace has won a pair of World Series rings and earned three All-Star selections.
The right-hander rose to fame when he closed out the NLCS and World Series in 2006.
Entering his 18th and final season, Wainwright will have one more opportunity to represent Team USA in the WBC next spring.
The veteran ace won 11 games in 2022 and posted a respectable 3.71 ERA in 32 starts, while also logging 195 innings and coming to within five wins of 200 for his career.
He and longtime batterymate Yadier Molina broke the all-time record for wins as a pitcher-catcher duo in May and later broke the all-time record for starts as a battery.
Wainwright is the last remaining holdover from the Cardinals World Series teams from 2006 and 2011.
He joins Merrill Kelly and Nestor Cortes as the third starting pitcher to commit to Team USA.
