SAN DIEGO • If there has been a most-alarming element of Adam Wainwright's disarming start to the season it's how few times he's been successful against opponents with his first pitch.
Of the 65 at-bats against him entering Friday's game at San Diego, opponents had swung at the first pitch 27 times. They hit .481 against that pitch, and slugged .741. That's including the hitters who missed it. For the 17 batters who connected, they slugged 1.118 against Wainwright and had a robust .706 average.
That speaks to both the quality of the pitch and placement.