There’s plenty that can be said about Adam Wainwright’s pitching performances of late — and plenty is certainly being said after yesterday, when he allowed six earned runs in six innings in the Cardinals 7-2 loss to the Reds.

It was, as we know, his second loss to the Reds in the span of five days. In the two games, he allowed 15 runs on 18 hits, struck out only five, walked four and saw his ERA rise from 2.58 to 3.14. Yes, both performances are following his 128-pitch complete game victory against the Braves on Aug. 23 — and plenty has been said about these performances being the result of throwing so many pitches.

It’s interesting to take a bigger picture look at Wainwright’s numbers for this season overall. Sure, we can see the 15-9 record and previously mentioned 3.14 ERA and the 187 strikeouts compared to the 29 walks, and especially drool over that strikeout-to-walk ratio.

But how has he done month by month?

Wainwright’s numbers since before the All-Star break and since are interesting as well.

Do those home run and walk numbers jump out at anyone else?

His numbers against the National League Central teams this season are not all that terrific.

Obviously, the performances against those first two teams don’t matter quite as much as the last two, given the standings.

What it all means — who can say, really? (And especially me, after just getting back from a long weekend in Pittsburgh to see all three Cardinals-Pirates games.) Wainwright was great in June, when the team wasn’t. His August numbers aren’t all that good but the team record was. And whether numbers against individual teams can speak for themselves is debatable too — of course Wainwright has terrific numbers in two starts this season against the Braves, and that’s certainly a team the Cardinals could face in October. That should be a bigger positive than his numbers against the Cubs.

Plus Wainwright did improve yesterday as the game went on, although the damage had been done and the Cardinals offense couldn’t get anything started against Mat Latos.

But it’s crunch time. There are only 25 games left. Winning the NL Central is the only guarantee to play more than one game in October.

So while it’s nice to read such things as “I plan to be very good down the stretch” from Wainwright, let’s hope his performances back it up.

Actions — and the resulting stats — do tend to speak louder than words in the end.


Christine Coleman is the lead writer for Aaron Miles’ Fastball. Follow her on Twitter, @CColeman802, or email aaronmilesfastball@gmail.com. Also follow @AMilesFastball for the latest updates.