ST. LOUIS (AP), Longtime St. Louis ace Adam Wainwright will be back next season, the club announced five-days ahead of his next major start for the Cardinals.
Before Friday's game against Chicago Cubs, Wainwright, 40, and Cardinals agreed to a one-year contract in 2022. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Wainwright will pitch Wednesday night in a NL wild-card match on the road against the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants. He is currently 17-7 and has a 3.05 ERA.
Three-time All-Star, the Cardinals' pitcher of the year, will be spending his 18th season with them in 2022. He tied Jesse Haines for the record for most years with the team as a pitcher.
Wainwright stated, "I don't want to be anywhere else." Who am I kidding?
Wainwright's record is 184-105 and a 3.35 ERA across 425 games (358 of which were starts), while he spent his entire career with Cardinals.
Bill DeWitt Jr., the team chairman, said that Adam has created a legacy that has made him one of the most important players in Cardinals history. Adam has been a great representative of St. Louis and the Cardinals since 2006 when he won the World Series and a playoff.
John Mozeliak, team president of baseball operations, said that Adam has been a consistent player for the Cardinals for almost two decades. ... He performs at a historic level, which is unprecedented in human history."
Wainwright was the closer of the teams in 2006. He famously struck out Carlos Beltran, of the New York Mets, to clinch game 7, and then saved Game 5 against the Detroit Tigers to win it.
Wainwright, Hall of Famer Bob Gibson, are the only pitchers who have recorded more than 2,000 strikeouts in the Cardinals' history.
The Cardinals signed Yadier Molina, a star catcher, to their 2022 season.
With 304 games, Molina and Wainwright are currently fourth in all-time games started by battery mates. Wainwright said that Molina's return played a major role in his desire to return.
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