Adam Wainwright has been having an up and down season. At times he has been great. Other times he has been awful.
Adam is still getting wins. He’s 11-5 to Carlos Martinez’s 6-8. Despite an ERA 2 runs higher (5.08 to 3.36). Thanks in part to leading all pitchers (min, 20 PA) in slugging (.444) and RBIs (10). Fun fact: Carlos is second in RBIs with 7.
The discrepancy is in part thanks to some huge splits home vs away. Waino is 7-1 at home with the loss coming in game 2 of the season 2-1 to Jake Arrieta and the Cubs back when people thought the Cubs would be good again.
In Busch Stadium III this season Wainwright has put up a 3.19 ERA but on the road he’s got a very unflattering 7.68 ERA.
This could be due to some bad luck. His Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP), which tries to calculate a pitchers ERA if he received league average results on balls in play, is 5.05 on the road. That’s a 2.63 run difference. The difference between his home ERA and FIP is just 0.10 (3.19 to 3.29).
It’s not just this year either. Wainwright’s road ERA last year was 6.18. His FIP was 5.08. At home. almost the same as this season. A 3.20 ERA and a 2.89 FIP.
But it wasn’t always this way. Back in 2014, Waino’s last full season before the achilles injury, he was dominant on the road. He posted a 1.72 road ERA and a 2.50 road FIP. Compared to a 3.27 ERA and a 3.13 FIP at home.
What Has Changed
That’s a much harder question to answer. His K% and BB% on the road are within 1% of his 2014 numbers. So he doesn’t seem to be walking more and striking out less. Adam Wainwright is getting hit a bit harder which has led to a .332 opponent average in 2017 compared to a .204 average in 2014.
It is a little bit of bad luck mixed with bad defense. Wainwright is giving up a .386 batting average on balls put in play this season. In 2014 he held that down to .250.
It might be the pucker factor. But that seems unlikely since we all know how Wainwright handled the 2006 NLCS.
If Wainwright can figure out his road struggles he just may be closer to the Wainwright of pre-achilles injury than the current version we’ve got.
Around the Horn
The St. Louis Blues locked up Colton Parayko with a 5-year deal on Thursday. Looks like I need to get a new shirsey. Also, ICYMI check out are article on the Blues Offseason moves.
Tommy Pham continued to be a delight in post game interviews. You do you, Pham.
Also he was hanging out with St. Louis Cardinals legend Adron Chambers before the a game in New York. That shirt is fire.
The Boston Red Sox have designated Pablo Sandoval for assignment. Sandoval is best known for winning 3 World Series with the San Francisco Giants and this cake gif. He signed a huge contract with the Red Sox then dealt with injuries and poor performance all the way to the bank.
Oh and now he’s resigning with the Giants. Maybe.
When the Nashville Predators came sliding into the DMs with free Stanley Cup tickets, this jabroni missed them because he didn’t have notifications on.
Logan Morrison fired off one hell of a bat flip after crushing his 26th dinger of the season. He’s still got nothing on this guy.
The Miami Marlins Marcel Ozuna scaled the wall to bring back a homer. Kind of reminds me of this Ichiro catch back in the day. But this Jimmy Ballgame theft is still my favorite.
Don’t question Jason Kipnis liking Instagrams during the Cleveland Indians games. He will DM you.
The New York Yankees had two guys in the homerun derby this year. So naturally they added Todd Frazier in a trade with the Chicago White Sox.
Speaking of the White Sox. The trades of Quintana and Frazier netted them more prospects and picks to go along with Yoan Moncada whom they received as part of the Chris Sale deal with the Boston Red Sox. They’re going to have a lot of good young talent.
Vladimir Guerrero is still hitting bombs. Just now it’s in slow pitch. Hey Vlad if you’re reading my slow pitch team constantly needs extras. Hit me up if you’re available Tuesday.
Zach Duke modeled the Memphis Redbirds Christmas in July uniforms on Twitter. Also, Zach Duke may well be back in the bullpen this season after Tommy John surgery in October.
I’ll let this Los Angeles Lakers tweet speak for itself.
Lakers fans are bursting with enthusiasm over this backcourt pic.twitter.com/GQUSSI1XGM
— Jeremy Woo (@JeremyWoo) July 16, 2017
In our weekly(ish) checkin on Korean baseball there are more wacky hijinx to be had.
This Pittsburgh Pirates fan decided to send a Jedd Gyorko homerun ball to sleep with the fishes over the weekend. Decent arm.
If you’re going to go on Jeopardy! talking about nerdcore hip-hop you bet your ass Alex Trebek is gonna put you in your place.
In Russia news this bear is riding in a motorcylce sidecar. And not a small bear. Like a full size bear. I don’t actually know where this is from, but it has to be Russa.
The trailer for The Disaster Artist came out this week. It stars both Francos, Seth Rogen, and depicts the making of the cinema masterpiece The Room.
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