Contreras is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Guardians.
Contreras has struggled mightily at the plate as of late, as he hasn't picked up a hit since May 20. He'll get a chance to rest against Cleveland on Sunday with Andrew Knizner handling catching duties and hitting ninth.
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Cardinals' Willson Contreras: Getting day off
Rotowire
Contreras is not in the lineup for Thursday's game in Cincinnati, 101 ESPN St. Louis reports.
It's a day game after a night game, so Andrew Knizner will do the catching for Miles Mikolas. Contreras is in the midst of a 1-for-24 slide at the dish.
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Cardinals' Willson Contreras: Records steal Saturday
Rotowire
Contreras went 1-for-4 with an RBI and a stolen base in Saturday's 6-5 win over the Dodgers.
Contreras has gone 5-for-24 (.208) with two homers, seven RBI and two steals in six games since he returned to being the primary catcher. He's now slashing .250/.333/.415 with four steals, five homers, 26 RBI and 21 runs scored through 45 contests this year. He's hit well enough to maintain a spot in the middle of the order.
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Cardinals' Willson Contreras: Mashes two homers
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Contreras went 2-for-5 with two homers and six RBI in Thursday's 16-8 win over the Dodgers.
Contreras opened the scoring for the Cardinals with a three-run shot in the third inning, and he provided insurance with another three-run homer in the eighth. It was the catcher's second multi-homer game of the season, as he has gone deep in just three different contests this season. He has a solid .772 OPS thanks to a .256 average and 12 doubles. He also ranks second among catchers with three stolen bases in 2023.
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Cardinals' Willson Contreras: Steals bag in loss
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Contreras went 1-for-3 with a double, two walks and a stolen base in Tuesday's loss to the Brewers.
Contreras drew multiple walks for the first time since April 23 and notched his third extra-base hit over his last five games with a double in the ninth. He wound up stealing second after walking in the fifth for his first stolen bag since April 17. He's put up pretty standard numbers at the plate thus far, slashing .252/.343/.395 with three homers, 18 RBI, 19 runs and a 20:35 BB:K over 169 plate appearances.
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Cardinals' Willson Contreras: Back at catcher Monday
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Contreras is starting at catcher and batting fifth Monday versus the Brewers, Katie Woo of The Athletic reports.
As expected, Contreras is starting at catcher for the first time since May 4 following a run at designated hitter while the team asked him to work on his defense. He'll be tasked with helping to coax better results out of right-hander Jack Flaherty, who brings a 6.18 ERA into his start Monday.
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Cardinals' Willson Contreras: To resume catching Monday
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Contreras will be back behind the plate Monday to catch Jack Flaherty against the Brewers, Katie Woo of The Athletic reports.
The Cardinals publicly criticized Contreras' catching last week and moved him to the designated hitter spot for an unclear amount of time while he worked on his defense. He's evidently shown enough improvement already that the team is comfortable returning him to his natural position. The Cardinals have allowed 5.4 runs per game since moving Contreras out from behind the plate, up from 5.1 runs per game prior to that point, so it's not clear that the decision had the desired effect.
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Cardinals' Willson Contreras: Goes deep Friday
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Contreras went 1-for-5 with a solo home run in Friday's 8-6 win over the Red Sox.
Contreras had gone 19 games without a homer, hitting. 275 with six doubles and nine RBI in that span. His long ball Friday helped spark the Cardinals' rally in the sixth inning. He's slashing .263/.340/.406 with three homers, 18 RBI, 18 runs scored, two stolen bases and 10 doubles over 37 contests this season.
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Cardinals' Willson Contreras: Drives in two runs
Rotowire
Contreras went 2-for-4 with a double, two RBI and a run scored in Monday's 3-1 win over the Cubs.
Making his return to Wrigley Field, Contreras knocked in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning with an RBI double and brought home an insurance run in the eighth. He has multiple hits in four of his last eight games, going 10-for-34 (.294) during that stretch. Contreras improved his season slash line to .273/346/.405 with 12 extra-base hits and 16 RBI through 136 plate appearances.
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Cardinals' Willson Contreras: At DH in return to Wrigley
Rotowire
Contreras is starting at designated hitter and batting fifth for the Cardinals on Monday versus the Cubs, John Denton of MLB.com reports.
In his first game back at Wrigley Field since signing with the Cardinals, Contreras will occupy the DH spot which will be his new home in the coming weeks. Andrew Knizner will catch Miles Mikolas.
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Cardinals' Willson Contreras: Won't catch much in coming weeks
Rotowire
Contreras will spend most of his time in the outfield or at designated hitter over the next couple of weeks, Katie Woo of The Athletic reports.
Contreras has been seen as a bat-first catcher throughout his career, but to see the Cardinals go from giving him five years and $87.5 million over the winter to not trusting him at all behind the plate a little over a month into his first season is quite a surprise. His framing numbers have been subpar this season, but presumably that's not a shock to St. Louis, as that's nothing new. It remains to be seen how often he'll play until he regains his team's trust as a catcher, since the Cardinals already have a depth chart crunch in the corner outfield and at designated hitter. Expect Andrew Knizner to see an uptick in playing time behind the plate in the meantime.
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Cardinals' Willson Contreras: Gets day off Thursday
Rotowire
Contreras is not in the starting lineup Thursday at San Francisco.
This would appear to be a routine breather for Contreras as the Cardinals wrap up a four-game set at Oracle Park. He started the previous 10 games, with eight of those starts coming behind the plate. Andrew Knizner is catching and batting eighth Thursday. Nolan Gorman is serving as the designated hitter and hitting third.
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Cardinals' Willson Contreras: Tossed from Sunday's game
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Contreras was ejected from Sunday's game against the Mariners in the top of the fifth inning for snapping his bat after striking out, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
Contreras started Sunday's matchup as the designated hitter and went 0-for-1 with two walks and a strikeout prior to his ejection, the seventh of his career. It seems unlikely that the ejection will lead to further discipline, so the 30-year-old should be available for the Cardinals' upcoming four-game series in San Francisco.
Contreras went 2-for-5 with two home runs and three RBI in Tuesday's 8-7 loss to the Diamondbacks.
A brutal fourth inning put the Cardinals in a five-run hole, but Contreras nearly hit them out of it. He went yard in the seventh and ninth innings, but the comeback fell one run short. The catcher has strung together three multi-hit games, tallying two homers, three doubles and five RBI in that span. He's up to a .254/.323/.424 slash line through 65 plate appearances, and he's also logged two stolen bases over 17 games.
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Cardinals' Willson Contreras: Two doubles, one steal in loss
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Contreras went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles, one RBI and a stolen base in Monday's 6-3 loss to the Diamondbacks.
Contreras was the only Cardinal to log a multi-hit effort. He also swiped third base after his RBI double tied the game at 1-1 in the sixth inning. Aside from a noticeable drop in power (.074 ISO), Contreras is off to a decent start in his St. Louis tenure. He's slashing .241/.317/.315 with no home runs, five RBI, five runs scored, four doubles and two steals through 16 contests.
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Cardinals' Willson Contreras: Reaches base three times in win
Rotowire
Contreras went 2-for-5 with a double, a walk, an RBI and a run scored in Sunday's 5-4 extra-innings' win over the Pirates.
Contreras notched his first multi-hit game since April 2 and tallied his second RBI over the last three games. It's been a slow start to the year for the three-time All-Star, as he raised his slash line to .200/.286/.240 with his efforts Sunday afternoon and will look to find more of a groove at the plate heading into the new week.
Contreras is not in the starting lineup Saturday versus the Pirates.
It's a routine day of rest for Contreras, who finally broke out of an extended slump Friday. Andrew Knizner will catch and bat ninth.
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Cardinals' Willson Contreras: Swipes bag
Rotowire
Contreras went 0-for-2 with two walks and a stolen base in Thursday's 5-0 loss to the Pirates.
Contreras is 0-for-15 over his last five games, though he has managed four walks in that span. He was on the front of an unlikely double-steal with Nolan Gorman in the fourth inning of Thursday's game. Contreras has shown some solid speed for a catcher, though he's never stolen more than five bases in a season. He's off to a sluggish start in 2023 with a .171/.261/.195 slash line, two RBI, four runs scored, one double and no home runs through 12 contests.
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Cardinals' Willson Contreras: Gets rest day Wednesday
Rotowire
Contreras is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against Atlanta, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.
Contreras gets the day game off with Andrew Knizner getting the start behind the dish and hitting ninth. The veteran backstop had an injury scare early in the campaign, but he has picked up six hits in his first 17 at-bats as a member of the Cardinals.
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Cardinals' Willson Contreras: Posts two hits in return
Rotowire
Contreras (knee) went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored in Sunday's 9-4 win over the Blue Jays.
Contreras looked to be in considerable pain and potentially headed for a trip to the injured list after taking a 102.7 mile-per-hour pitch to his right knee in Thursday's season opener, but he ended up missing just one game. He was back behind the plate Sunday and caught all nine innings while producing on the offensive end, alleviating any concern fantasy managers may have had about his status heading into the Cardinals' upcoming six-game week.
