After another terrible start, the Cardinals and Oli Marmol are going to have to make a decision on Adam Wainwright's future.
Is this how Adam Wainwright's Cardinals career ends, not with a bang, but a whimper?
The legendary pitcher took the mound on Friday night and gave up eight runs before being pulled with no outs in the second inning. It was his second-straight start with seven or more runs allowed and his seventh loss of the season. He hasn't won a game since June 17.
Now the Cardinals are openly admitting that Wainwright's role with the team is in doubt.
"It's delicate, to be quite honest," Marmol said via The Athletic. "He's a pro, and we've had some really honest conversations. Is it ideal? No, it's not."
Marmol is employed to win baseball games and Wainwright has put him behind in the count on that too often this season, especially recently. The Cardinals have lost six of Wainwright's last seven starts. He's taken the L in each of those.
And it's not like Wainwright is exclusively getting beat up by the best teams in the league. His last two losses were against the Rockies and Royals.
If it were any other pitcher, an ERA of 8.78 would get them yanked from the rotation. Wainwright's ERA hasn't dipped below 5.56 at any point this season either.
Still, Wainwright is a franchise great and no one wants to see him unceremoniously dropped in his final season with the 200-win mark so close — he's been stuck at 198.
It's the finality of this season and chasing that milestone that may be getting to Wainwright's head though.
"I'm hesitant to admit it — and I've heard this from older guys who retired — but when you know you're done, you could lose an edge," Wainwright told The Athletic. "I was really resistant to that because I thought I would fight like crazy till the end. But I'm going to have to refocus and get real serious about ending strong because I don't want to go out like that. I mean, that's just embarrassing."
So what can the Cardinals do? They could move him into a bullpen role where his pursuit of two wins could continue in strategic spots. Or a convenient trip to the IL could be arranged (remember that time Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich gave Tim Duncan a Did Not Dress designation of "old") to give Wainwright a reset to get his mind and body right for a final curtain call in September.
