Although Willson Contreras’ placement on the 10-day injured list was retroactive by a day and would have made him eligible to return for the Cardinals’ final regular-season series at Wrigley Field at the end of September, the first baseman’s season came to an end Wednesday.
Contreras was placed on the 10-day IL after being diagnosed with a “mild” biceps strain on Tuesday. The designation for his IL move was announced by the Cardinals as a right shoulder strain.
The decision to end Contreras’ season comes as a precaution to prevent the injury from worsening, and as the Cardinals sit 4.5 games back of the third wild card spot in the National League.
“His season is over,” Marmol said. “This is one that’s different, where it can get worse if we try to push through it. It’s currently a mild strain. It can easily turn into something much worse. Where we’re at at the moment, it doesn’t make sense to try to get him to push through this. We’ll make the call to end his season.”
Infielder Jose Fermin was recalled from Class AAA Memphis in a corresponding move.
In his first big-league season as a full-time first baseman, Contreras played in 135 games, his most since appearing in 138 games in 2018, batted .257 with 20 home runs, and had a .791 on-base plus slugging percentage. He set career highs in hits (126), RBIs (80), doubles (31), and total bases (219). At the time of the IL announcement, Contreras ranked second in the majors and first in the National League with 23 hit by pitches.
Contreras, 33, began his third season as a Cardinal with a .218/.301/.336 slash line in 31 games before slashing .270/.357/.482 in 104 games from May 2 and on.
Defensively, Contreras ranked in the 74th percentile in fielding run value, 92nd percentile in range, and had plus-six Outs Above Average, per Statcast. At the start of Wednesday, Contreras was tied for fifth among qualified first basemen in Outs Above Average.
“I thought he did a really nice job of adjusting to the new position,” Marmol said of Contreras. “He took to it quickly and did a much better job than many would have anticipated. Footwork was good around the bag. He did a tremendous job over there. Offensively, he had the start that he did, and then you look at his numbers towards them, and he did a really good job. We’re happy with the transition to first, and also what he provided outside of that.”
With Contreras switching from catcher to first base, the Cardinals had a “backup plan if it didn’t look great” from Contreras, which would have positioned Alec Burleson to get a “majority” of the innings at first base while Contreras hit from the designated hitter spot.
But how well Contreras showed he could adapt to first base early in spring training provided a window to what the regular season could look like for the former catcher.
“It was pretty clear that he’d do a really nice job over there. It worked out really well,” Marmol said.
And showed the overall “value” he brings to a club.
“I think he’s brought a lot of value to what he’s capable of doing outside of just his offense by showing what he’s capable of doing at first,” Marmol said.
Contreras exited early from Monday’s series opener vs. the Reds because of bicep tightness and was absent from Tuesday’s lineup as he continued to nurse the injury. Contreras said Monday night the injury was one he felt dating back to early September and noted it had worsened in recent days before Monday’s early exit. Although Contreras said he hoped to stay on the field to end the season, he expressed some caution in dealing with the injury.
“That’s what we don’t want is for it to become a tear and then have a real injury on our hands… give it rest, it’ll be fine,” Marmol said.
Heading to the IL will allow Contreras some added rest before the start of the offseason.
The IL placement opens innings at first base for Burleson, an opportunity for Jordan Walker to get “a little bit more of a run” in right field, and could “potentially” create an opportunity for Nolan Gorman to get time at first base if Burleson is used in the outfield.
Springfield takes Game 1
Class AA Springfield (Missouri) won Game 1 of their Texas League Division Series Tuesday night against Tulsa, the Dodgers’ Class AA affiliate.
Springfield received six scoreless innings from starter Ixan Henderson and a scoreless 1 1/3 innings of relief from Luis Gastelum, who was named Cardinals minor league pitcher of the month for August, in their five-pitcher effort to keep Tulsa to one run.
A first-inning lead was provided by a line drive single to center field from Joshua Baez, who was named the Cardinals minor league player of the month for August. The lead was padded by RBIs from Dakota Harris and Jon Jon Gazdar.
Springfield’s best-of-three Texas League Division series against Tulsa continues Thursday, when the series shifts to Hammons Field in Springfield, Missouri. A win clinches a spot in the Texas League Championship Series.
Brycen Mautz, a former second-round pick in the 2022 MLB Draft and a breakout starter this year, is slated to start in Game 2.
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Daniel Guerrero | Post-Dispatch
Baseball writer
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