Forever 22.
Michael Wacha is forever 22 in ºüÀêÊÓƵ — frozen in 2013, that fearless kid who froze batters with stupefying stuff.
The rookie went 4-1 with a 2.78 ERA. Then, he pitched a masterpiece in the NLDS. Then, he won the MVP award of the NLCS. The Cardinals advanced to the World Series … their most-recent World Series.
Wacha now is 33. He’s with Kansas City, his sixth team. He’s still firing and faring well — his ERA is 3.74. And on Tuesday night, weather permitting (a significant amount of rain from the remnants of Hurricane Beryl is forecast for most of the day and evening) he’ll have a career-first — a start at Busch Stadium against the Cardinals.
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UPDATE: The Cardinals game has been postponed; the Royals and Cardinals will play a doubleheader on Wednesday, starting at 12:45 p.m. Wacha is scheduled to start the late game, at 6:45 p.m.
Bet there might be an ovation.
But Wacha’s return is a reminder of a seemingly bygone era, back when the Cardinals developed homegrown starters and won playoff rounds.
ºüÀêÊÓƵ might have taken it all for granted. From 2011-2014, its Cardinals made it to the NLCS all four times and the World Series twice.
So many homegrown arms. First-rounders Wacha, Lance Lynn and Shelby Miller, as well as draft and international finds such as Carlos Martinez, Jason Motte, Trevor Rosenthal, Jaime Garcia, Kevin Siegrist, Seth Maness and more.
Perhaps that era stands out not only because of the ERAs, but also because of the stark contrast to recent years.
Hate to bring this up, but in the 2014 NLCS manager Mike Matheny went to a cold Wacha to pitch out of the ’pen. The season was on the line. Wacha, who was returning from injury, hadn’t pitched since Sept. 26. And, yep, Wacha allowed a pennant-winning walk-off homer to Travis Ishikawa.
Well, since that game, the Cardinals have only won one playoff series (a 2019 NLDS). And because they were swept in the 2019 NLCS, the last NLCS game they have won was Game 2 of the 2014 series.
The current rotation has two homegrown arms, but both come with asterisks. The first is Lynn, who left ºüÀêÊÓƵ in 2018, returning this year. And the other is Andre Pallante, who wasn’t supposed to even be in the rotation. He has fared well in most of his seven starts (he’s set to oppose Wacha on Tuesday), but it’s fair to be wary about how long this can last.
And the Cardinals don’t have much in Memphis.
So, the most-recent first-round drafted pitcher is Cooper Hjerpe from 2022. He’s pitching well in Class AA. But before him, check out this list of first-round pitchers: Michael McGreevy (2021), Zack Thompson (2019), Dakota Hudson (2016) and Jake Woodford (2015).
Now, perhaps you’ve heard, the 2024 Cardinals are making quite a remarkable push. On May 11, they were nine games under .500. The Cards now are 48-42 and just finding ways to win. It’s fair to point out their recent series wins were against sub-.500 teams Washington, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. But, hey, you can’t control your schedule.
As I mentioned in Monday’s column, the Cardinals profile as a playoff team (with the third wild-card slot a welcoming possibility). On the road to possible return to the good ol’ days is Wacha, a main character from those seasons. He’s faced the Cardinals twice before, but never in ºüÀêÊÓƵ. This is a big one.
And give Wacha credit for diligent work to a career rejuvenation. After leaving the Cards, he battled injuries and bad years — notably 2020 with the Mets and 2021 with the Rays (5.05 ERA in 29 games, 23 starts). Looked dire, didn’t it? But Wacha logged a 3.32 ERA for Boston in 2022 and a 3.22 ERA for San Diego in 2023.
And this year, he’s in the “threes†yet again. Now, in the last couple years, he’s thrown his changeup even more than ever before. This year, it’s particularly wicked. He throws it 31.9% of the time (his four-seamer is second-most thrown, at 24%) and opponents hit just .196 against it.
Earlier in 2024, Wacha was hit a bit. But beginning on May 9, he’s tallied a 2.31 in his past eight starts. And the Royals actually are … good. They have a quartet of All-Stars and a record similar to the Cardinals, at 49-43. Wacha sure seems like he might notch yet another win on the Busch mound.
Really, the Royal always is connected to ºüÀêÊÓƵ. He’s part of team history. He married a ºüÀêÊÓƵ girl. He’s close with some members of the Cardinals’ family. On Tuesday, he’ll see familiar faces Lynn, Matt Carpenter and Cards bench coach Daniel Descalso.
And even though Wacha started 151 games wearing the birds on the bat (59-39, 3.91) he’s always remembered for that run in 2013, when he was 22 — with the world in his pitching hand and the World Series on the horizon.