When Adam Wainwright re-signed with the St. Louis Cardinals for one more season, the expectation was that he would be a viable member of the team’s rotation as they competed for another division title.
However, the 2023 season has been the complete opposite of what was expected for Wainwright and the Cards.
He has been on the injured list twice and the Cardinals are still in last place in the NL Central.
For Wainwright, things only got worse on Friday night, as he allowed eight runs in just an inning of work against the Kansas City Royals and watched his ERA skyrocket to 8.78.
On Twitter, Cardinals analyst Brenden Schaeffer pointed out just how bad things have gotten for the veteran right-hander.
Gave up eight earned to the 2023 Royals in 1.0+ innings of work. If that's not rock bottom for whatever is going on with Waino, I don't want to find out what is.
— Brenden Schaeffer🎳 (@bschaeffer12) August 12, 2023
For fans in St. Louis, it certainly hasn’t been a fun season.
To make matters worse, Wainwright is having a miserable season.
Schaeffer said on Twitter that if this wasn’t rock bottom for the 41-year-old, he didn’t want to find out what was.
But since winning his last game on June 17 against the New York Mets, the season has gone off the rails for the fan favorite and two-time World Series champion.
The right-hander has been struggling since September of last season and hasn’t been the same pitcher in almost a year.
It’s a sad reality for fans in St. Louis to watch Wainwright struggle in his final season.
Wainwright is still stuck on 198 wins for his career.
Just two more wins would put him at 200, but the right-hander has not been himself this year, and now his place in the St. Louis rotation has come into question.
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