ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Adam Wainwright has achieved nearly everything he could before his eventual retirement next week, finally becoming the 122nd major league pitcher to win 200 games, joining former Cardinals like Jon Lester, Jesse Haines and Bob Gibson to achieve the feat
But there one more goal on Wainwright's bucket list that he wants to achieve before his retirement, according to Cardinals manager Oli Marmol.
Marmol joined Total Infomation A.M. to discuss the scene of Wainwright finally achieving his 200th win Monday, telling KMOX that Wainwright actually had a terrible bullpen session heading into the game.
"Waino was not feeling good," said Marmol, "His bullpen reps before the game was one of his worst ones, and to go out there and perform the way he did it was incredible."
With Wainwright achieving win number 200, it crossed off the biggest goal on Wainwright's bucket list before his eventual retirement at the end of the season, but Wainwright has a few more things to cross his bucket list, including asking Marmol to let him see one more major league at bat.
"He's definitely been lobbying for it I'll tell you that," said Marmol while chuckling, "There has to be a word above (lobbying)."
Marmol didn't give a definite answer as to whether Cardinals fan could see Wainwright take one final at bat, but he also didn't dismiss the idea.
Wainwright has not seen a major league at bat since the 2021 season. Since MLB implemented a universal DH, it has eliminated the requirement for National League teams to have their pitchers take at bats during starts, limiting any opportunities for pitchers(other than Shohei Ohtani) to see any major league at bats as a hitter.
Wainwright career hitting slash line of .193/.220/.291 with a OPS of .511 might not scream impressive at all, even compared to other good MLB pitchers who had a knack to hit like eventual Baseball Hall of Famer Zack Greinke, but Wainwright has actually been one of the best hitting pitchers in the game.
According to Fangraphs, Wainwight career fWAR of 5.2 as a hitter is fourth in baseball and advanced hitting stat Weighted Runs Created plus (wRC+) of 34 is in the top 10 of pitchers who have seen at least 250 plate appearances. Only Carlos Zambrano, Greinke and Madison Bumgarner have been worth more than him in his career.