Starter Adam Wainwright of the St. Louis Cardinals delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Busch Stadium on October 2, 2022 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)
Just a few days after the 2023 World Baseball Classic, St. Louis Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright suffered a groin strain injury that will land him on the injured list for the beginning of his 18th major league season, and likely could miss several weeks according to MLB.com’s John Denton.
Cardinals manager Oli Marmol confirmed the injury on Thursday morning before a spring training game against the New York Yankees. Marmol stated Wainwright’s injury occurred in the weight room on Tuesday prior to Team USA facing Japan in the World Baseball Classic Championship Game.
Wainwright said he suffered the injury while doing split squats during his third set of his leg-strengthening condition exercises when he felt a strain in his groin. Wainwright told the media that his legs started feeling better than ever in recent days until the injury happened. The started had back spasms in early February that left him with weakness in his right leg and hampered his ability to push off the rubber.
During the World Baseball Classic, Wainwright started two games, going 2-0 recording a 2.25 ERA pitching eight innings, allowing 10 hits, two earned runs, walking two batters, and striking out five in the tournament for Team USA.
Wainwright was 11-12 last season, the first full season he finished with a losing record in his career. During last season, Wainwright went 4-2 in the second half of the season with two no-decisions, recording a 6.69 ERA down the stretch.
With 195 career wins, all with the Cardinals, Wainwright is 15 wins shy of Jesse Haines’s mark of 210, which is second all-time in the franchise behind Hall of Famer Bob Gibson’s 251. Last year, Wainwright and Yadier Molina set the Major League record for starts and wins at 328 and 213 wins among batterymates.
Marmol stated that he thinks the two-time World Series champion will travel with the team back to St. Louis on Monday night after the final week of spring training. The Cardinals will open the 2023 regular season at home against the Toronto Blue Jays at 4:10 p.m. EDT.