Watch: Adam Wainwright gets awesome pinch-hit at-bat during final series of his career

Although he would ground out in the at-bat, Wainwright, who is retiring after the season, managed to get a couple of good swings on Reds lefty Brandon Williamson. Not bad at all for a grizzled starting pitcher at the end of his 18th MLB campaign.

Granted, Wainwright began his MLB career in 2005 (more than a decade-and-a-half before the universal DH rule went into effect). That means that he has gotten his fair share of plate appearances over the years. Even with the 0-for-1 outing on Friday, Wainwright is 143-for-743 at the dish in his career with 10 home runs and 75 RBIs. You may recall that Waino actually won a Silver Slugger Award in 2017 too after batting .262 with a .731 OPS for St. Louis that year (absolutely Ruthian numbers for any non-Ohtani pitcher).

Wainwright made the last start of his MLB career in a 1-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sept. 18. But Cardinals fans got an added bonus in being able to see Wainwright get his first at-bat in over two calendar years (continuing on St. Louis’ very unusual send-off for Wainwright’s career).