After last night's loss Adam Wainwright is now 2-4 with an ERA over 6, and a year after an elbow injury and Tommy John surgery it's easy to become concerned about the St. Louis Cardinals' erstwhile ace. I like to consider myself an especially level-headed Cardinals fan, but when do we worry, exactly?
It still doesn't feel like it should be right now, as bad as he's appeared to pitch. Right now his strikeout and walk rates are better than ever—his K%, at 24%, is a career high, and his BB%, even after his wild first inning Saturday night, is a career low. He's allowed a ton of home runs, which might be a real problem though we have no way of knowing yet, and a ton of hits, which is almost certainly not a real problem.
We maybe expected too much from a rejuvenated Wainwright going into the 2012 season, but there's little reason to be worried he's permanently lost it quite yet.
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