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Posted at 11:15 AM EST.

4:10 PM EST. Clayton Richard (LHP) has a 5.72 ERA after eight starts but what that doesn’t point out is that Clayton Richard owns some of the best skills in the game against left-handed batters with 10 K’s/9, 1.4 BB’s/9 and 67% grounders. It's the reason he has posted a sub-3 ERA against them. Problem is, you can't use him against lineups with a lot of righties and that applies here to the Cardinals heavy right-handed lineup. That said, we’ll still gamble because Adam Wainwright (RHP) is among the worst starters in the game and Richard, on his worst day, is still the superior starter here.

That Adam Wainwright (RHP) has a 3.45 ERA after three starts is further proof of how misleading ERA’s can be. Wainwright landed on the 10-day disabled list due to right elbow inflammation and is to be activated for this start, His back problems and elbow ailments muddy his outlook even further. Even the healthy version of Wainwright hasn't missed bats in years, leaving pinpoint control as his only path to success and even that is in a massive decline. In three starts, Wainwright has a BB/K split of 8/12 over 16 frames but his weak 6% swing and miss rate does not support those average 12 strikeouts. His 53% first-pitch strike rate supports his weak walk rate. Wainwright is a broken down pitcher that the Cardinals are hoping can eat some innings and hold up until they get some bodies back. The path he is taking however is the Steve Carlton path to retirement. For a long time, Wainwright was a workhorse with top-notch skills, but both his health and stuff have long since retired. He does have some market credibility, which is something we have to try and exploit because not even a sleight of hand can mask his poor and useless skills anymore. 

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