When Adam Wainwright went down in April with a torn Achilles everyone believed his season was over. Everyone that is, except for Wainwright himself.
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The St. Louis Cardinals ace is determined to return after he tore his left Achilles when running out of the batter's box in April. Wainwright had surgery on the ailment on April 30.
Wainwright's original recovery time was expected to be nine months to a year, but he said that he thinks the injury is progressing nicely and that he could be back in late 2015.
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"Absolutely," Wainwright told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about a potential return. "I know that I'm working toward the end of the season. I don't know if that will [happen], but we'll see."
Cardinals' officials had hoped that Wainwright would be ready by spring training in 2016, but he's already shed his crutches and is in a walking boot while he is working out on his upper-body.
"It's progressing nicely," Wainwright, who missed the 2011 season due to Tommy John surgery, told the publication.
Wainwright, 33, went 2-1 this season in 25 innings with a 1.44 ERA before injuring himself. The right-hander is 121-67 overall in his career with a 2.98 ERA and 1,324 strikeouts.
Aside from an off the field FBI investigation into hacking the Houston Astros, the season has gone swimmingly for St. Louis without Wainwright in the fold and even despite injuries to Matt Adams (quad surgery) and Matt Holliday (strained quad).
The Cardinals own an MLB-best 43-21 record and a six-game cushion over the Pittsburgh Pirates atop the NL Central after making it to the National League Championship Series in each of the last four years.
"The selfish part of me goes, 'No way they could win this many games without me, right?'" Wainwright told the paper. "What you realize is that this organization keeps on ticking, no matter what and no matter who they lose."
He continued: "If they can win without Albert [Pujols], they can win without me."
Wainwright, who won the World Series with the Cardinals in 2006 and was injured when they took the Fall Classic in 2011, is a three-time All-Star, two-time Gold Glove Award winner and a two-time NL wins leader.
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