Saturday is a big day for the St. Louis Cardinals.
The team will play its Grapefruit League opener against the Washington Nationals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.
Starting for the Cardinals will be Adam Wainwright.
The veteran right-hander and two-time World Series champion was tapped for the Grapefruit League opener and will likely draw the Opening Day start for the Cards on March 30 against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Wainwright, always hard at work, is preparing to make his first start of Grapefruit League play in 2023.
On Twitter, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch posted a video of the three-time All-Star throwing a bullpen session.
Adam Wainwright at work before his start Saturday. #stlcards pic.twitter.com/vtBEMy6nq1
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) February 22, 2023
This will be a big start for Wainwright as well.
His last outing was on October 2 of last year against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
In that start, he allowed six runs in just 4.2 innings of work, capping off an uncharacteristically bad final month of the season, which cost him a spot in the postseason rotation.
Wainwright had talked about how being hit by a come-backer caused him to inadvertently shorten his stride while pitching, which ultimately caused his velocity to drop.
And so, Saturday will mark the first time Wainwright pitches since that last start of the regular season.
This will be the Cardinals first chance to see if he has corrected his mechanical issue from last September.
The 41-year-old will also be pitching for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic this March.
He is one of four Cardinals to compete with the American National Team, joining Paul Goldschmidt, Miles Mikolas, and Nolan Arenado.
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