photo: Adam Wainwright (Springfield Cardinals)
St. Louis Cardinals right-handed pitcher Adam Wainwright’s most recent minor league rehab stint began on August 13. The 36-year old right-hander has thrown a total of eight scoreless innings over four appearances.
It began with him pitching three days apart.
- August 13 – Palm Beach – 1 inning – 9 pitches
- August 16 – Palm Beach – 2 innings – 31 pitches
- August 19 – Springfield – 2 innings – 27 pitches
- August 22 – Springfield – 3 innings – 44 pitches
- August 27 – Memphis
Now, with his Monday start just ahead for Memphis, the schedule has been extended to a traditional five-day starter routine.
On his “Monday’s with Mo” podcast appearance with Dan McLaughlin at scoopswithdannymac.com, Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak stated that Wainwright would make 2-3 more rehab appearances and then rejoin St. Louis’ rotation. Of course, which current starter he will replace is yet to be determined.
If Wainwright has three more minor league starts, they would be on August 27, September 1 and September 6. The soonest he would rejoin St. Louis to start would then be September 11. Not coincidentally, his maximum 30 days of allowable rehab time concludes… on September 11.
The pessamist in me sees this as a delay to minimize the number of starts Wainwright makes for St. Louis. The optimist sees it as trying to ensure he is as ready as he possibly can be. The reality is probably a portion of both.
This extended schedule would also delay St. Louis’ 40-man roster decision longer. To activate Wainwright from the 60-day disabled list means the Cardinals must first remove another player from the 40-man. This way, they can wait for another season-ending injury and perhaps avoid having to shed someone they prefer to keep.
A side benefit is that it significantly strengthens the weakened Memphis rotation for at least the start of the Pacific Coast League playoffs. I am sure that was not lost on the Cardinals, either.
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Brian Walton can be reached via email at brian@thecardinalnation.com. Follow Brian on Twitter.
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