Adam Wainwright
Adam Wainwright
Adam Parrish Wainwrightis an American professional baseball starting pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball. The Atlanta Braves selected him 29th overall in the first round of the 2000 amateur draft from Glynn Academy in Brunswick, Georgia. His performance in the minor leagues brought him notice as one of the Braves' top pitching prospects. The Braves traded him to the Cardinals after the 2003 season, receiving outfielder J. D. Drew in a deal which has since been...
ProfessionBaseball Player
Date of Birth30 August 1981
CityBrunswick, GA
It was nice of Jason to let me start that game. He didn't have to let me do that. It was nice to get a start.
I think I can do way better. I'm not real pleased with today. I got out of some situations and pitched well when I needed to. It was not the start I was looking for, but there is a lot to learn from it.
Today, I really struggled staying back on the rubber and getting the ball down. But when I did, you know, I was able to do that in key situations and make key pitches, so I've just got to be more consistent with that.
Obviously a guy who plays as hard as he does and gets a streak going like that, I respect that streak. It's kind of a pitcher's duty if a guy has something going like that to give him a chance at it.
If I'm not going to be a starter, I'd like to have a chance to get in there and play a lot. That's what I'm doing now, and I feel like I'm contributing to the team. I'm just having fun being in the big leagues, for one. It's a different world up here.
If I play a bad round, which I've been having lately, Mulder will let me have it. I've heard his whole game before. I don't worry about it. It's getting ready to swing the other way.
I try to not to think about the pressure. I don't want any more pressure on me. I just want to pitch my best and then put the ball in their hands. That way I can make the team by pitching my best.
Whenever that phone rings, I'm always looking. I could be going in in the fifth inning or the fourth inning, or I could be going in there seventh or eighth inning. Nobody's said anything to me. I'll just be ready.
I'd like to think that on a lot of teams, I'd be a No. 1. The thing I do know is that every time I take the mound, in my mind I'm the best pitcher in the league.
It's hard to be a No. 1 when you're not even No. 1 on your team.
I thought there was a chance right from the beginning.
As long as they say bullpen in St. Louis, then I'm all for it. I still think of myself as a starter. ... But this is a good change because it's giving me a big-league opportunity I wouldn't have had as a starter.
Something inside told me I was mentally and physically ready to play up here. It's one thing to tell yourself that, and it's one thing to believe it. I think this year I believed it for the first time. Other years I was just thinking it.
I think the years of toiling around in the minors have really helped.