St. Louis Cardinals Place Catcher Willson Contreras on Injured List, Ending His Season
The St. Louis Cardinals have placed catcher Willson Contreras on the injured list, manager Oli Marmol told reporters Thursday.
With 10 days left on the schedule, Contreras' 2023 season is over.
Contreras exited Wednesday's 8-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers with left wrist discomfort. He was held out of the lineup Thursday, and St. Louis went on to lose again 6-0.
This marks Contreras' first stint on the injured list in 2023.
The Cardinals signed Contreras to a five-year, $87.5 million contract in the offseason, making him the fifth-highest paid catcher in baseball. The 31-year-old was coming off a seven-year stint with the Chicago Cubs, during which he made three All-Star Games and won a World Series.
Contreras hit .264 with 20 home runs, 67 RBI, an .826 OPS and a 3.4 WAR in St. Louis this season. For his career, Contreras is a .257 hitter with 749 hits, 137 home runs, 432 RBI, an .811 OPS and a 24.3 WAR.
The Cardinals are no stranger to high-priced catchers, considering they employed Yadier Molina for the previous 19 seasons. The future Hall of Fame hopeful ended his career as the second-highest-paid catcher in MLB history when he retired in 2022.
Contreras managed to appear in 125 games for St. Louis before suffering his most recent injury, which is more than Molina played in any of his final five years with the club.
Without Contreras, the Cardinals will likely lean on Andrew Knizner at catcher as they round out their worst regular season since 1990.
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