Adam Wainwright
Adam Parrish Wainwright, nicknamed "Waino" and "Uncle Charlie", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who spent his entire 18-year Major League Baseball career with the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Atlanta Braves selected Wainwright 29th overall in the first round of the 2000 MLB draft from Glynn Academy in Brunswick, Georgia. His performance in the minor leagues made him one of the Braves' top pitching prospects. After the 2003 season, the Braves traded him to the Cardinals for outfielder J. D. Drew.
Wainwright made his MLB debut on September 11, 2005, and spent the rest of the season as a relief pitcher. The next year, he briefly assumed closer duties, saving the series-clinching games of the 2006 National League Championship Series and the World Series over the Detroit Tigers. In 2007, he returned to starting pitching, a role in which he would remain for the rest of his career. He missed the 2011 season due to Tommy John surgery, but emerged as an ace, leading the National League multiple times in wins, innings pitched, and games started. He also has multiple top-ten finishes in earned run average, strikeouts, walks plus hits per inning pitched, and complete games. In 2014, Wainwright became the first pitcher in major league history to post nine of his first 18 starts with seven innings pitched and no runs allowed. In his career, Wainwright won 200 games, received three All-Star selections and two Gold Glove Awards, and finished in the top three in the Cy Young Award balloting four times.
With 2,202 career strikeouts, Wainwright is second to Bob Gibson in Cardinals franchise history. Wainwright and longtime teammate Yadier Molina are the most successful battery in major league history, having both the most wins and starts together.
On September 18, 2023, Wainwright became the third Cardinals' pitcher to win 200 games, joining Bob Gibson, and Jesse Haines, and the 122nd in baseball history. That day, he also became the 66th pitcher in baseball history with at least 2,200 strikeouts.
Early life
Wainwright was born in Brunswick, Georgia. His father was an attorney, and his mother was a real estate agent. His parents divorced when he was seven years old, and his father moved to Florida, leaving Wainwright's mother to raise him and his older brother, who grew up to become an attorney in Atlanta. Wainwright credits his older brother with teaching him everything he knows about sports after their father left, including building a pitcher's mound in their back yard to teach him how to pitch. Wainwright also participated in the Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and numerous church activities. He grew up an Atlanta Braves fan.High school
Wainwright attended high school at Glynn Academy in Brunswick, where he was an athletic and academic standout. With a fastball over 90 mph and batting average at times over.500, Wainwright was named Gatorade Georgia Player of the Year in 2000. He also played football, in which he was named to the All-State team as a wide receiver his junior and senior years as well as All-Region honors as a placekicker. Several universities, including Georgia Tech, offered him academic and baseball scholarships.Professional career
Draft and minor leagues (2000–05)
Atlanta Braves organization (2000–03)
The Atlanta Braves selected Wainwright 29th overall in the first round of the 2000 MLB draft, using a compensatory pick from the Arizona Diamondbacks for signing Russ Springer in the offseason. Wainwright chose to forgo college, signing a contract that included a $1.25 million bonus. The Braves had been his favorite team growing up. Less than two weeks after high school graduation, Wainwright reported to the Braves rookie team and soon advanced to Atlanta's Class A Danville Braves in the Appalachian League. He pitched for the Macon Braves in the South Atlantic League in 2001, where he broke the team record for strikeouts, previously held by Bruce Chen, with 184.Wainwright spent the 2002 season in the Carolina League and also participated in that season's All-Star Futures Game. In 2003, Wainwright advanced to the Double-A Greenville Braves. He was Baseball America's top Braves prospect in 2003.
St. Louis Cardinals (2005–2023)
In December 2003, the St. Louis Cardinals acquired Wainwright and pitchers Jason Marquis and Ray King in a trade that sent outfielder J. D. Drew and utility player Eli Marrero to Atlanta.Wainwright pitched just 12 games for the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds in 2004 before he was shut down for nearly the entire rest of the season with an elbow strain. He had a 4–4 win–loss record with a 5.37 earned run average in innings pitched. He struck out 64 batters and allowed 68 hits and 28 walks. In the Arizona Fall League, he returned to pitch 10 innings. He spent the next season with Memphis, starting 29 games, going 10–10 and allowing 204 hits and 51 walks while striking out 147 in 182 innings. After two somewhat uneven seasons in the Cardinals' minor league system, Wainwright made his MLB debut for St. Louis on September 11, 2005.
2006
Wainwright made the Cardinals' Opening Day roster as a relief pitcher after having been a starter for his entire minor league career. On May 24, 2006, he hit a home run on the first pitch he saw as batter in the major leagues against the San Francisco Giants' Noah Lowry; he became the 22nd batter, and only the seventh pitcher, in Major League history and 11th National Leaguer to hit a home run off the first pitch thrown in his first at-bat.Wainwright pitched capably as a middle reliever, but when incumbent closer Jason Isringhausen underwent season-ending hip surgery in September, Wainwright was pressed into service as the closer. He saved two crucial games on September 27 and 30 as St. Louis held off the Houston Astros' late charge and won the NL Central Division championship. Despite their unexceptional 83–78 regular-season record, the Cardinals rolled through October to win the 10th world championship in franchise history. As the closer, Wainwright closed out the final game of the Cardinals' National League Division Series, ending the New York Mets' season and propelling the Cardinals to the 2006 National League Championship Series, where he famously struck out Carlos Beltrán in Game 7 to send the Cardinals to the World Series. In Game 5 of the 2006 World Series, Wainwright struck out Detroit Tigers third baseman Brandon Inge to win the championship.
2007
Wainwright moved from the bullpen to the starting rotation for 2007. Shortly after losing ace Chris Carpenter for the year due to elbow surgery, Wainwright emerged as the Cardinals' most reliable starter. On August 10, he threw the first complete game of his career, a 2–1 loss to Los Angeles, and the only nine-inning complete game for the Cardinals that season. By September, Wainwright had established himself as the staff ace in Carpenter's absence, going 9–6 with a 2.94 ERA from mid-May to the end of the season. He finished his first year by leading the club in almost every pitching category—games started, innings pitched, strikeouts, and wins—while compiling a 3.70 ERA and a 14–12 record. His 14 wins were the most in franchise history for a first-year starter. His 2.71 ERA after the All-Star break was third-best in the NL.2008
In March 2008, Wainwright signed a four-year deal with the Cardinals worth $21 million, with two club options for 2012 and 2013 that made the potential aggregate value $36 million. He gave up four runs or less in each of his first seven starts. However, the Cardinals lost to the Brewers 8–3 in Wainwright's eighth start, on May 13, as Ryan Braun hit two home runs off him. He suffered a strain on the middle finger of his pitching hand in June, causing him to miss months of the season. In 20 starts, he finished 11–3 with a 3.20 ERA.2009
On August 19, 2009, at Dodger Stadium, Wainwright had a no-hitter going against the Los Angeles Dodgers for innings before Orlando Hudson broke it up with a clean single to left field. In his next start against the Astros, he pitched eight shutout innings to pick up his then-league-leading 15th win in a 1–0 victory. It was Wainwright's 25th straight start with at least six innings pitched. In five August starts that season, he completed IP with just one walk and 22 SO. On September 26, Wainwright pitched eight innings and struck out eleven for a 6–3, NL Central division-clinching victory against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field for his 19th win. Wainwright finished with a 19–8 record and a 2.63 ERA, leading the National League in wins, games started, and innings pitched. He also struck out a major-league high 140 batters on third-strike curveballs.On October 28, Wainwright won the Players Choice Award as the NL Most Outstanding Pitcher. He won his first Gold Glove Award on November 11. Wainwright was a top contender for the Cy Young Award along with teammate Chris Carpenter and eventual winner Tim Lincecum. He became only the second pitcher ever, after Trevor Hoffman in 1998, to receive the most first-place votes but not win the award.
2010
Pitching in his first All-Star Game, Wainwright pitched one inning. He faced five batters and allowed no runs with just one hit—a double off the glove of fellow Cardinal Matt Holliday—one walk, and two strikeouts. In one 11-game stretch preceding August 16, he compiled IP in nine of those starts and allowed two earned runs for a 0.27 ERA.Wainwright finished the 2010 season 20–11 with a 2.42 ERA, five complete games, 213 strikeouts, 56 walks, 15 home runs allowed, and a WHIP of 1.05, in IP. His win, strikeout, complete game, and shutout totals were all career-bests. His win total and ERA were both good for second place in the National League. He also pitched the first two shutouts of his career in 2010—one against the Milwaukee Brewers on June 4 and a two-hitter against the Florida Marlins on August 6.
Wainwright was the runner-up for the Cy Young Award, finishing second in voting behind unanimous winner Halladay. Wainwright picked up 28 of 32 second-place votes. Near the end of the season, he had experienced elbow discomfort and nerve swelling. A magnetic resonance imaging scan cleared him after the season.