Adam Wainwright needs adult supervision

A grown-up needs to manage Adam Wainwright.

The declining St. Louis Cardinals starter is made of glass. His sinew and muscle is brittle. The only person who seems unable to recognize and accept this fact is Wainwright himself. And, I suppose, the manager of the Cardinals, regardless of who that person is.

A pattern has emerged. Wainwright will notice something is wrong physically with his body. He will nonetheless continue to pitch. The injury will hurt his ability to pitch. The subpar pitching will result in the Cardinals giving up runs.

The latest piece of evidence comes from Sunday night’s loss at Wrigley Field, as relayed by stltoday.com writer Derrick Goold:

With two out in the fifth inning and the offense famished for runs, Wainwright felt he needed to get to second base on his line drive to left-center. He needed to pitch deep into Sunday’s game with the bullpen on fumes, and because the Cardinals oh, so desperately needed a win at Wrigley. Wainwright’s hamstring sprung a few steps out of the batter’s box, was sore as he slid into second, and when he tried to pitch through it, the game came undone, too. Wainwright said he could generate the same life on his pitches with his landing leg compromised. Three of the first four hitters he faced in the inning got hits, and the fourth was starter Kyle Hendricks, who dropped a bunt. Dave Bote’s RBI single snapped the tie and Kyle Schwarber’s RBI double pushed the Cubs comfortably ahead.

In the span of four batters, Wainwright’s hamstring didn’t improve and a 1-1 game became a 3-1 deficit.

“It just change[d] the whole complexion of the game, I think,” Wainwright said.

You think? After the fact? After all of the other times pitching injured, ostensibly playing the hero, hurt the Cardinals’ chances at winning? You think?

The better question is why manager Mike Shildt didn’t think of what would happen and make the decision for Wainwright.

There’s a new manager in St. Louis, but the result is the same. It seems that Cardinals managers are more interested in worshipping at the altar of Wainwright’s veteran proveyness than managing the fading star. Whether it’s Mike Matheny or Shildt, the result is the same. The St. Louis manager will allow Wainwright to play hurt.

Wainwright gets what Wainwright wants. It does not matter how it hurts the Cardinals’ chances at winning. It’s apparent that no one is able to make the adult decision for Wainwright — that he should not pitch in meaningful games for the Cards if he is physically compromised. Wainwright pitching at less than 100% hurts the Cards’ chances at winning, especially nowadays with the righty in the twilight of his career, doing all he can to be serviceable as a back-of-the-rotation starter in a game that has passed him by.

Worse still is how an injury can snowball. The injury to the part of the body that is hurting can worsen with use. Another possibility is for the injured body part to cause the player to sustain an injury elsewhere in his body due to compensating for the injured body party.

All of this is to say that there is no reason for Wainwright to play the hero, especially in 2019. His injury history is long. Waino’s body is not capable of pitching like it once was, due in no small part to his past injuries. And the 2019 Cards need every inning of quality pitching they can get.

It’s apparent that management does not see things this way. After all, Shildt declared the Cards to have five No. 1 starters in spring training when they might have one No. 3 starter, a handful of 4th and 5th starter types and Michael Wacha, who doesn’t merit a roster spot let alone tonight’s start against Miami. (Sure, the opponent is bad, but these Cards are clawing for any win they can notch and Wacha hamstrings those efforts considerably.)

With each chapter in the injury-ridden decline of Wainwright’s career it becomes clearer. There is no adult in Cardinals management who is capable of leading when it comes to the once-great Waino. Sunday night is the latest example of how the inability to manage Wainwright harms — all too often irreparably — the Cardinals’ chances of winning. This dynamic needs to change. Waino needs adult supervision.