St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright will not pitch again this season, manager Oli Marmol told reporters prior to Tuesday night's game against the Milwaukee Brewers. As a result, Wainwright's year and career will have culminated with his Sept. 18 appearance that served as his 200th victory. (Wainwright will, presumably, still perform his music this weekend at Busch Stadium as previously promised.)
Wainwright, 42, had a rough final season overall. In 21 starts, he amassed a 7.40 ERA (58 ERA+) and a 1.34 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He entered the year needing just five victories to clear the 200-win threshold for his career, yet those victories proved hard to come by. Indeed, he had been stuck on No. 198 from the time he recorded it on June 17 until Sept. 12, casting doubt on whether or not he would be able to reach that milestone.
Wainwright did, and did it with his finest appearance of the season, according to Bill James' Game Score metric. He threw seven shutout frames against the Milwaukee Brewers, holding them to just four hits and two walks. Wainwright also struck out three of the 25 batters he faced.
Wainwright will now head into the broadcast booth having completed an 18-season career that saw him tally those aforementioned 200 wins, as well as compile a 3.53 ERA (113 ERA+) and a 2.99 strikeout-to-walk ratio. His contributions were worth an estimated 40.5 Wins Above Replacement, according to Baseball-Reference's calculations.
For those wondering, Wainwright ranks ninth in Cardinals franchise history in Wins Above Replacement. He's second among pitchers, trailing only the legendary Bob Gibson, who finished his career with 81.7 WAR.
Wainwright is the third notable Cardinals player to retire in the past year, joining slugger Albert Pujols and longtime batterymate and catcher Yadier Molina.
