Inside The Cardinals

Cardinals' John Mozeliak Compares Floundering Veteran To Legend Adam Wainwright

St. Louis' baseball boss isn't worried about the fan favorite
Nate Hagerty|
Sep 18, 2023; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright (50) tips his cap to the fans as he receives a standing ovation after winning his 200th career game in a 1-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
Sep 18, 2023; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright (50) tips his cap to the fans as he receives a standing ovation after winning his 200th career game in a 1-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

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St. Louis Cardinals

Following a troubling 2025 spring training performance, a St. Louis Cardinals veteran hurler is being compared to one of the franchise's most beloved characters.

Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak recently compared one of the club's top pitchers to 2006 World Series champion Adam Wainwright after the three-time All-Star's atrocious spring training this year.

Hopefully, Mozeliak's comparison to the future Hall of Fame candidate ages well; otherwise, the Cardinals could be in for some trouble this upcoming season.

"Said Mozeliak on Monday: 'I’m confident that he(Sonny Gray) knows how to pitch and can adjust,'" as transcribed by St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Derrick Goold late Monday night. "'Similar conversations might have been like, How is Adam Wainwright going to pitch in the big leagues with an 89-mph fastball? He changed. He adapted. And he found ways to be successful.'"

Gray logged a horrific 0-3 record with a 12.56 ERA, 17-to-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .359 batting average against and a 2.02 WHIP in 14 1/3 innings pitched for St. Louis this spring -- his worst preseason outing throughout his entire career.

With Gray approaching his 13th big-league season at 35 years old, doubts of whether he still has frontline-caliber juice left in the tank are bound to arise, especially considering how poorly he performed this spring.

It's worth noting that Wainwright logged one of his worst campaigns as a big-league starting pitcher when he was 35 years old during the 2016 season -- posting a 13-9 record with a 4.62 ERA, 161-to-59 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .287 batting average against a 1.40 WHIP in 198 2/3 innings pitched for the Cardinals.

Considering that Gray has no intentions of leaving St. Louis before his backloaded three-year, $75 million contract expires after 2026, let's hope this spring was merely a fluke.

More MLB: Cardinals Would Be Foolish To Demote Former First-Round Pick Before Opening Day

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Nate Hagerty
NATE HAGERTY

Nate Hagerty joined “Inside The Cardinals” as a content creator to spread knowledge about his favorite childhood team. A hometown native of Boston, Hagerty chose at an early age of six years old to follow the St. Louis Cardinals. The miraculous season of 04’ for the Red Sox did not deter Hagerty from rooting against his hometown team, nor did it in 2013 against the Red Birds. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding Inside The Cardinals, please reach out to Scott Neville: nevilles@merrimack.edu 

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