Adam Wainwright was against Stephen Strasburg type of shut-down - MLB Update
Adam Wainwright will be throwing against San Francisco Giants in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series. Just like Stephen Strasburg, he went through surgery but unlike him he was not shut-down by the St. Louis Cardinals.
He threw an incredible number of innings in the season and has not shown any sign yet that he is uncomfortable.
Strasburg was limited by the Nationals due to concerns of the team management that he may suffer issues with his shoulder if not rested properly.
Nationals’ General Manager Mike Rizzo maintained that they think about Strasburg in terms of his future role in the team. He was of the view that by shielding Strasburg against an injury, they can help him throw smoothly in the years to come.
Furthermore, his motivation for restricting Strasburg stemmed from the goal of making the Nationals one of the most established teams with regard to performances in the seasons.
Rizzo did not want to see the Nationals declining after one year. That is why he accounted for the elements related to the future while making the decisions.
In contrast to Rizzo, the Cardinals’ officials overlooked future and focused more on the task at-hand. They retained and used Wainwright in the matches regardless of the potential impact of overuse on his shoulder.
They have now announced him as starting pitcher for their extremely important clash against the Giants in the NLCS.
Cardinals’ General Manager, John Mozeliak has shared his views regarding the possibility of restricting Wainwright while the season progressed. He has explained that they observed him closely in every one of his outings on the mound. The fact he was just
getting better encouraged them to let him throw for as long as he can.
“He went into spring training where we were just going to sort of evaluate how things went sort of outing by outing,” Mozeliak said. “As he continued to have success — look stronger, get stronger — there was never any temptation to say, ‘Wait a minute, we
should slow this down."
Similarly, Wainwright has pointed out that since his body was not feeling pressure, he kept throwing innings and doing the job for the team. He has further clarified that he knows his body well and that he was always assured that he can continue his expedition
in the season unhampered.
“I think that was the team protecting itself, and if I did start to tire in the middle of the season they could back me off a little bit,” Wainwright said. “But a funny thing about being a competitor, you know your body better than anybody else.”
While Strasburg watched his team failing in his absence, it will be interesting to see how Wainwright can help the Cardinals with his presence.
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