It was recently revealed in a Bally Sports Midwest interview that Adam Wainwright, one of the best pitchers in Cardinals history, could get an at-bat before the season ends since his pitching career is over.
Wainwright, in the recent interview, said he was hoping to get an at-bat during the final series against the Cincinnati Reds, by saying, "I've got pine tar on the batting gloves. We've been working on it."
Wainwright was originally drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the first round of the 2000 MLB Draft but later got traded to the St. Louis Cardinals with Ray King and Jason Marquis for J.D. Drew and Eli Marrero.
Adam Wainwright home run history -- yes, really.
Wainwright has spent his whole career with the Cardinals because he got traded before making his MLB debut with the Braves. Spending his whole career in the National League means he received quite a few at-bats, totaling 742 in 424 games.
In those 424 games, he hit ten home runs and recorded 75 RBIs, of which he had 18 and 11 RBIs in the 2016 and 2017 seasons. He was such a good hitter that for a few seasons he led all pitchers in batting average and finished those 742 at-bats hitting .193. In 2017, he was such a dominant hitter he won the Silver Slugger award for pitchers.
It was sad seeing the Universal DH added because (in some cases) it took away the moments when a pitcher can record a clutch hit, and that ends up winning some games. But overall the universal DH is a good thing because pitchers won't get injured running the bases.
The Cardinals aren't making the playoffs now, so watching Wainwright as the DH in the final game of the season vs the Reds would be a nice touch. It would serve as a reminder to the baseball world of what they're going to miss and would resemble the 2022 final series for Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina.
