St. Louis Cardinals eighteen-year veteran starting pitcher Adam Wainwright earned his 200th career victory on Monday night in a 1-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. Adam is now one of five active pitchers with 200 wins or more. Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke, Max Scherzer, and Clayton Kershaw have more.
Adam Wainwright Cooperstown-worthy?
The 42-year-old starting pitcher plans on retiring at season’s end. While Cooperstown might feel like a one-in-100 chance, Wainwright will undoubtedly get his number 50 retired by the Cardinals. He’s also one of three Cardinals pitchers to have earned 200 wins or more, joining Bob Feller and Jesse Haines. We’ll examine Adam’s illustrious career and determine if he’s a future Hall of Famer.
Adam Wainwright With 200 Wins
During his 200th victory last night, Adam pitched seven innings. He allowed no runs, just four hits, and two walks while striking out three. Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras hit a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth inning. That gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead and eventually the win. Wainwright has a 5-11 record through 21 starts this season. Through 101 innings pitched, he has a 7.40 ERA with 55 strikeouts. He has a lifetime record of 200-128, with a lifetime ERA of 3.53 and 2,202 career strikeouts. Wainwright was crucial in the Cardinals cementing themselves as the 2006 World Series champions. St. Louis played the Detroit Tigers in the World Series, defeating them in five games.
The Cardinals would go on to win it all again in 2011. Unfortunately, Wainwright did not receive credit for the World Series championship in 2011. The reason is he was out the entire year dealing with injuries. One big question that sticks out in my mind is: “Does he not having that second World Series championship tarnish his chances for the Hall of Fame?”
Wainwright never won a Cy Young Award. He was a runner-up for the NL Cy Young Award twice in 2010 and 2013 while finishing in third three times.
If you compare his career to a guy like Mark Buehrle, Wainwright was a two-time runner-up and third three times for the Cy Young Award. Buehrle was a top-five in the AL Cy Young voting one time. Mark also pitched a perfect game in 2009 and a no-hitter in 2007. These guys have had successful careers but are not Hall of Fame-worthy. Waino is a legendary Cardinals pitcher, but Hall of Famer? There may be a chance if those injuries never affected him in 2011.
Main Photo Credits: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
