MLB Writer Ready To Panic Over Cardinals' $87.5 Million Slugger

It might be time to panic for the Cardinals.

Mar 29, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Willson Contreras (40) dives and fields a ground ball hit by Minnesota Twins third baseman Jose Miranda (not pictured) during the fifth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

St. Louis Cardinals slugger Willson Contreras has gotten off to a horrendous start this season. He's worth -0.8 WAR with an OPS well below .400. It's stretched from a cold start to a concerning stretch of 13 games.

Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller recognized how ice-cold Contreras is and suggested that the Cardinals should be ready to panic about his play at this point.

"It's one thing to have some bad early luck in the BABIP department, but Willson Contreras isn't even putting balls in play, striking out in a staggering 41 percent of plate appearances," Miller wrote. "Contreras was never exactly Luis Arraez at the dish, striking out in at least 20 percent of plate appearances in each previous season in the big leagues. This is a bit excessive, though."

"He has already struck out on sweepers as many times this season (eight) as he did in the entire 2024 campaign. And the jury appears to be out on his struggles with that pitch in particular, as the rate at which sweepers are being thrown to him has increased by nearly 130 percent. (For his career, he is 19-for-100 with one HR and 36 K in ABs ending on a sweeper.)"

There have been rumblings that the Cardinals could look to trade away Contreras team like the Boston Red Sox. Boston would then need to convert him back to a catcher.

Either way, the slugger doesn't seem to be the player who put up a combined 14.3 WAR over the last four seasons combined. It might be time for the Cardinals to panic.

More MLB: Cardinals Could Capitalize On Desperate NL Club In Massive Trade