Cardinals' Adam Wainwright Fired Up Over Fans Criticism Heading Into Season Debut

Wainwright is coming back with a fire this season

Scott Neville | Apr 26, 2023

Cardinals' Adam Wainwright Fired Up Over Fans Criticism Heading Into Season Debut /

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St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright had his season delayed due to a groin injury but is set to return in the coming weeks.

While the Cardinals could desperately use another reliable arm in the rotation, some fans have been hyper-critical of the 41-year-old's rehab performances.

"Adam Wainwright's second rehab start went like this: 4 1/3 innings pitched, seven hits, three earned runs, one walk, one strikeout, 74 pitches/52 strikes," The Athletic's Katie Woo tweeted. "We'll look at velocity, but most of the damage came on off-speed pitches. Cardinals are still deciding if Wainwright will pitch a third rehab outing."

Many fans in the replies criticized Waino for being too old, making too much money or not throwing hard enough in today's era. That seemed to have lit a fire under Wainwright.

"Looking forward to proving every last one of you underneath this wrong," Wainwright commented. "Thanks for the motivation. There’s a balance… read the comments and get depressed? Or read the comments and put the war paint on. See you soon."

Wainwright has allowed five earned runs in 7 1/3 innings for Double-A Springfield across two starts.

While Cardinals fans would love to see better stats, there's no reason to panic over a couple of rehab outings.

As expected, Wainwright is using his "struggles" to motivate himself. The future Hall of Fame candidate will be back soon, and it'll be exciting to see how he responds to select fans turning their backs on him after 17 seasons of relative dominance.

More MLB: MLB Insider Links Cardinals To NL East Club In Potential Blockbuster Trade

Published Apr 26, 2023

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the St. Louis Cardinals for FanNation's "Inside The Cardinals" on Sports Illustrated. Before starting "Inside The Cardinals", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." After a few months as the top Major League Baseball site in the program, Neville sought expansion and pitched "Inside The Cardinals," one of the newest additions to FanNation and the Sports Illustrated Media Group. The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Cardinals" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu