Steve Mitchell – USA TODAY Sports
After missing the entire 2011 season, St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright had a pretty good 2012 campaign. Obviously he didn’t pitch as well as we are accustomed to, but he still put up a fWAR of 4.0. His performance was good enough to warrant a five-year, $97.5 million extension from the Redbirds. While some may have thought the extension was tad high and premature, Wainwright is making the Cardinals look like geniuses with the way he is performing this season.
If Wainwright isn’t the pitcher of the month in April, baseball should just void future player of the month awards entirely. In his five starts this season, Wainwright has a 4-1 record, 1.93 ERA, 1.09 FIP, 0.24 BB/9 and already has a 1.8 fWAR. Out of all those statistics, the 0.24 BB/9 is the most impressive to me, especially since he has 37 strikeouts. That’s a 37 to 1 K:BB ratio, folks! That is absolutely asinine.
Judging from the recent contracts other top pitchers signed on the open market this past winter, Wainwright getting locked up for less than $100 million is looking like an absolute steal right now. Plus, he is someone the Cardinals can rely on while their amazing farm system blossoms in the Major Leagues; it’s always nice to have a pitcher that can throw 200+ innings to lead a rotation.
What makes Wainwright’s start all the more impressive is the general ineptitude of the Cardinals’ bullpen. If it wasn’t for Wainwright’s dominating start, the Cardinals wouldn’t be battling for first place. Instead, they would be accompanying the Chicago Cubs at the bottom of the division. And no one ever wants to be compared to the Cubs in April.
