The Cardinals officially have named Adam Wainwright their opening day starting pitcher, and Fantasy owners largely seemed convinced that he's also worthy of being an ace on their teams.
He is, on average, being drafted 12th among Rotisserie starting pitchers and 13th in Head-to-Head. For those who remain skeptical, Wainwright's strikeout, walk, home run and ground ball rates from last season were very similar to those he posted in 2009 and 2010, prior to his Tommy John surgery.
His 3.94 ERA last season paled in comparison to the marks in the mid-2.00s from those two previous campaigns. A big part of the difference was a 69 percent strand rate that was more than 10 percentage points below those he posted in '09 and '10.
With the rest of Wainwright's skill set clearly intact, an ERA rebound looks imminent, as does a return to ace status.