Wacha (15-4, 2.69 ERA) was scratched Wednesday against Washington to limit his innings over the regular season's final month. He's thrown 50 1-3 more than in 2014, when he missed nearly three months with a stress reaction in his right shoulder.
The right-hander is 4-0 with a 0.92 ERA in his last six starts but hasn't pitched since allowing four unearned runs in six innings of a 5-4 loss Aug. 28 at San Francisco.
The Cardinals (87-50) lead the Central by 5 1/2 games over Pittsburgh and will reach the playoffs for a fifth consecutive year barring an epic collapse. A priority for manager Mike Matheny is to have Wacha fresh for October.
"There are reasons we need to take a little pause whenever we get an opportunity," Matheny told MLB's official website. "I explained that to him as well, because he's not overly excited about it."
Wacha beat the Cubs on June 27, but he allowed five runs in six innings against them July 8 before the Cardinals rallied for a 6-5 win. Starlin Castro (8 for 17 with a homer and two doubles) and Anthony Rizzo (7 for 17 with a home run) have hit Wacha well throughout their careers.
The Series:
St. Louis leads season series 9-5
September 7, 2015-Chicago 9, St. Louis 0
September 8, 2015-CHC (Hammel) @ STL (Wacha)-7:15 PM CDT
September 9, 2015-CHC (Lester) @ STL (Martínez)-12:45 PM CDT
We've played like [expletive] at home lately. Why should today be any different? Signs are pointing to the bus getting flats, and it's the wrong time to start giving playoff contenders confidence. Especially when when you'll be facing one of them.
The St. Louis Cardinals are 49-23 at home this season and are solid favorites to beat the Chicago Cubs who are 36-29 on the road this season. The Cardinals have a better than 55% chance of winning based on 10,000 game simulations generated one play at a time by the AccuScore Simulation Supercomputer. Cardinals\' starter Michael Wacha is forecasted to have a better game than Cubs\' starter Jason Hammel. Michael Wacha has a 64% chance of having a Quality Start (QS) while Jason Hammel has a 51% chance of a QS. If Michael Wacha has a quality start the Cardinals has a 67% chance of winning. His simulated strikeout to walk ratio is 3.9 and he has a 34% chance of having a 5 to 1 K/BB ratio. When he has a 5/1 ratio the Cardinals win 62%. In Jason Hammel quality starts the Cubs win 53%. He has a 38% chance of having a 5 to 1 K/BB ratio and if he does his team wins 53% of simulations. In simulations we tracked the batter for each team that was most productive based his average hits, walks and RBI per simulation. The most productive batter for the St. Louis Cardinals is Matt Carpenter who averaged 1.87 hits+walks+RBI. He has a 28% chance of having a big game with 3+ Hits, Walks, RBI and if he has a big game the Cardinals have a 71% chance of winning. The most productive batter for the Chicago Cubs is Anthony Rizzo who averaged 1.69 hits+walks+RBI. He has a 24% chance of having a big game with 3+ Hits, Walks, RBI and if he has a big game the Cubs have a 61% chance of winning.
I asked this question yesterday and the answer from Matheny was that he felt they needed to get Jay into the lineup and get him playing to see what they had. It was a lot like an answer that would be given about a prospect or a newcomer in July or August, yet here it was being said about a returning starter in September. It is going to be a question presented to the Cardinals many times over the coming weeks: Do they go with the starters coming back who have years before as their track record, or do they stick with the players who got them this far and on the verge of a division championship? Not a whole lot of time, and any start for Jay is one that banks on past performance repeating itself at this point.
by Derrick Goold 10:49 AM
Why was Jay givin his starting cf job back immediately? If I'm a player who had been playing and then sit and watch Jay play im pissed. I think Matheny stirs his own pot in the clubhouse example Lance Lynn.
by Duane Barrett 10:47 AM
I asked this question yesterday and the answer from Matheny was that he felt they needed to get Jay into the lineup and get him playing to see what they had. It was a lot like an answer that would be given about a prospect or a newcomer in July or August, yet here it was being said about a returning starter in September. It is going to be a question presented to the Cardinals many times over the coming weeks: Do they go with the starters coming back who have years before as their track record, or do they stick with the players who got them this far and on the verge of a division championship? Not a whole lot of time, and any start for Jay is one that banks on past performance repeating itself at this point.
by Derrick Goold 10:49 AM
Why was Jay givin his starting cf job back immediately? If I'm a player who had been playing and then sit and watch Jay play im pissed. I think Matheny stirs his own pot in the clubhouse example Lance Lynn.
by Duane Barrett 10:47 AM
Wait, who else are we supposed to put there? Bourjos can't hit, Pham is AAAA cannon fodder, and the last we heard Grichuk still has not thrown a baseball.
Not at this point. That's the word from the Cardinals officials.
by Derrick Goold 10:57 AM
Barring injury, do you see any other minor league players joining the team in September?
by TJV 10:57 AM
And before you start to wonder why the 40-man roster is so important at this point, it's because the Cardinals are about to have some traffic issues on it. Adam Wainwright, Matt Adams, and Matt Belisle are all on the 60-day disabled list. The Cardinals must first clear a spot for them on the 40-man roster before they can join the active roster this month. That means letting some of the players on the 40-man go -- not adding a player like Diaz to it.
by Derrick Goold 10:56 AM
He's not on the 40-man roster. Was removed earlier this year.
by Derrick Goold 10:55 AM
Derrick, any chance Diaz will be called up from Memphis?
by Al Lang Al 10:54 AM
You try it. I think one of the great leaps for fans and media alike would be to recognize the bruising schedule that baseball puts people through. Think about doing your job 202 out of 225 days, some times 60 days in a row. Add in travel. Add in time changes and fastballs and injuries ... Look, they are highly paid --- far more so than the coaches, support staff, and media that also make the same trips -- and compensated for the work they do, but let's not pretend that baseball isn't a bruising, mind-grind of a career. You want to know what fatigue looks like in baseball and how real it is? Check out how the Pirates and Cardinals played Monday.
by Derrick Goold 11:13 AM
Fatigue? Every team plays 162 games. WAAAAAAHHHH
by Double D 11:10 AM
You should start buying it. Fatigue is real, Bean.
by Derrick Goold 11:02 AM
What's with Wong's less than stellar recent play? Please don't tell me fatigue, I don't buy that excuse. If he's tired and needs time off, (choke, choke), there are more than adequate replacements riding the pine.
by Bean 11:02 AM
Speaking of fatigue. Here come the Jay questions. Like the swallows from Capistrano. Oh boy.
by Derrick Goold 11:15 AM
A player's first couple of seasons of a 162-game schedule can be brutal on their bodies. They're trying to find out how to pace themselves, how much weight to carry, etc. Some get lucky, some find it hard to figure out what exactly is best.
I can't figure out the depth chart at center field. It seemed to be Heyward/Jay/Pham. Over the past few days it's been Jay/Jay/Jay/Bourjos. Jay is getting the chance to get his swing going while there's a pennant race going on. Pham isn't getting the chance to continue the good streak he had going. The calculus gets even trickier when Holliday returns and Piscotty doesn't have a spot if Heyward doesn't play center, so the team has to choose between the rookie who is hitting well (Piscotty) and the power swing that has been surging (Moss) at first base. Oh, and Adams is there. The easiest way would be the pick the batters producing the most and find them positions. I'm not sure that's the way they'll go.
by Derrick Goold 11:40 AM
pham seemed to be hitting a good spot, then got moved to the bench. any chance we see some more Pham?
by scottyj 11:38 AM
(79-57) at St. Louis
(87-50)
