In seasons past, Adam Wainwright would often spend more time on mental reps or simulated pitches than actually throwing a ball in his bullpen sessions between starts. “Saving bullets” as he would say. This season, as he searched for the right mix of velocities and pitches this season, the tinkering raised the intensity of those sessions.
The work has been paying off as after an 0-3 start, Wainwright has allowed just one run in his last 26.1 innings pitched and is in the midst of a 16.1 active streak of scoreless innings.
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“I’m really trying to listen to hitters,” said Wainwright after shutting out Los Angeles for 6.0 innings this past Sunday. “What are their swings telling me? Right now, I’m changing speeds with just about everything I have.”
The St. Louis Cardinals ace is now regularly mixing up his fastballs at 88-93mph with curveballs that are ranging from as low as 66mph to the upper 70s on the gun. His cutter could be anywhere between 82-90mph.
“Feel is very important, but I always look up to see the speed on the slow stuff,” said Wainwright. “Just so I can keep those speed variables, keep making them different and more different and more different so the hitter doesn’t know what to expect.”
Besides the change in velocities, the 35-year old Wainwright has also found positive results from adding to his pregame routine.
“The last five or six times out, I’ve started long-tossing before the game,” he explained. “Getting a good active warm-up in here before I go out there. Getting my arms ready–doing some curls, and triceps, doing some ab work, and doing some running on the treadmill. Getting my body fully loose and ready to go out there. I felt like I wasn’t–earlier in my career, it was a little different. When I took the mound, the first pitch of the game, I was hot. I was ready to rock. I could’ve thrown three pitches and I could still probably do that now, but I feel better and feel more prepared when I get a little active warm-up in there. Just a little more ready to pitch when I get out there.”
Tonight will be a good test for Wainwright, who is 1st among National League pitchers in in HR/9.0 IP?(0.58, 4 HR). In 15 games, he has allowed 10 homeruns at Great American Ballpark.
Overall, Wainwright is 6-4 in his 13 starts there and has a career mark of 9-10 against the Cincinnati Reds.
photo credit: Bill Greenblatt/UPI, Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
