40 Year Old Adam Wainwright Just Casually Pitched 6 Scoreless Innings On Opening Day
2022 is Adam Wainwright's 17th year at the major league level, and I'm still not sure if he's ever broken a sweat. In an age of maximum effort pitching in which any fastball below 95 MPH is considered weak, Wainwright continues to get it done. He's coming off of one of his best seasons a year ago, in which he finished 7th for the Cy Young. And at the ripe old age of 40, he just shut down the Pirates over six scoreless innings. I know pitching a shutout against the Pirates should probably come with an asterisk, but the dude is 40.
Outside of the Tigers, I don't have many allegiances. Quite frankly, I probably shouldn't be rooting for the Cardinals because they broke my heart 16 years ago in the World Series with three guys who are currently on their roster (Adam Wainwright, Yadier Molina, and Albert Pujols), but I'd be lying to you if I told you that I wasn't rooting for the storyline. I want to see the Cardinals in the playoffs in 2022. Wainwright's reemergence of the last several years has been fun to watch. No pitcher in baseball has more complete games over the last two seasons than Waino. I'm a big fan of power arms, and I'm a big fan of strikeout guys. I would rather have a guy who throws 100 than a guy who throws 90, but there is something to be said about someone who's going to give you his best six or seven innings, regardless of the strikeouts. Wainwright gets outs. That's what matters. I'm getting tired of Cy Young pitchers who are pitching 170 innings. That's nothing, especially when you consider the fact that a 39-year-old threw over 200 innings last season. Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina have made it known that this is their final season in the majors. I would be surprised if Adam Wainwright doesn't join them in retirement. And while Molina and Pujols are very clearly at the end of their ropes, Wainwright seems like he could pitch another three or four years, given the way he's going. Keep showing them how it's done, old buck.