This story was excerpted from John Denton’s Cardinals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Sitting next to Albert Pujols at the legendary slugger’s locker last October when the Cardinals had been unceremoniously ushered out of the playoffs, Adam Wainwright was taken aback by something he didn’t see from the retiring giant with 703 career MLB home runs.

Tears -- there were none from Pujols, who had somehow culled greatness from that two-toned bat of his once more to finish off his career with a stirring and stunning flurry. Silently, Wainwright was observing Pujols to see how the finality of a career would hit him. What he witnessed was contentment and pure bliss from the last player to wear No. 5 with birds on the bat across the chest.

“It was a really good thing for me to see Albert retire last year,” Wainwright said. “He was so mentally ready for [retirement] and he had finished on such a high note that it was a great sendoff for him. He and I were sitting over there at his locker, and he wasn’t crying or anything because he knew it was time.”

That time continues to draw closer by the day for Wainwright, who will call it a career following this season. What Wainwright has failed to experience thus far is the flourish in which Pujols finished off his Cardinals career. Hitting 24 home runs at 42 years of age -- a second-half surge that carried him to 700 and beyond -- is just another chapter in greatness crafted by the likely future Hall of Famer.

Just once more, Wainwright would like to feel the surge of excitement enjoyed by Pujols last season. And it might take a stirring effort on Thursday against the Mets to keep himself in the rotation following struggles never before endured by the pitcher. If Wainwright can’t find the spin on his legendary curveball once more, can’t coax a few more mph out of his sneaky fastball and can’t crack a few bats with his cutter, Thursday’s start could very well be the last of his 19-year career at Busch Stadium.

Nobody seeing red in Cardinal-colored glasses wants to watch that, considering all Wainwright has meant to the franchise. He’ll forever be remembered for the killer curveball to Carlos Beltrán in the 2006 NLCS, and the big hook to Detroit’s Brandon Inge that sealed that year’s World Series crown. What Wainwright would like fans to forget, however, is the 14.87 ERA he’s had over his past seven starts, the shortest outing of his career in Kansas City last Friday and the 8.78 ERA he’s carrying through this final MLB season.

All of it has put the Cardinals in quite a quandary. How do they stand by a franchise icon who has meant so much to the club, while also not just standing pat as he continues to struggle?

“You’re giving him the trust you might not normally give another player,” Cardinals president John Mozeliak said. “He’s earned that right. But at some point, even someone like him runs out.”

Optimistic as ever, Wainwright still feels he has one more magical, Pujols-like run left in him. He needs two wins to get to 200 for his career, and he still thinks he can spin a couple of more victories before he calls it a career.

“I want you all to have the same expectations you always have had for me, because that’s what I have,” Wainwright said. “Whether that’s realistic or not, I’ll let everybody else decide. But I continue to take the ball and really look forward to making the last out of the game when I make that first pitch. I’m going to do it before the end of the season, I promise you that.”