Both player and club had high expectations when catcher Willson Contreras joined the St. Louis Cardinals this offseason — and approaching the halfway mark of the season, it's been nothing short of a miserable campaign for both parties.

Contreras spoke out about his loss of confidence as the floundering Cards fell to at 27-40 on Monday night, good enough for last place in the National League.

“This is my first time since I've been in the big leagues that I have struggled this bad,” Contreras said on Tuesday about his over two-week long slump, per MLB.com's John Denton. “I think I've lost my confidence and I lost my trust, and lost the trust that I came into the season with. It just went away.”

Still, the 31-year-old knows the only way out is through.

“I don't think, I know I have to keep going,” the Venezuelan backstop added, per Denton. “Right now, I have to find ways to get myself going. I've been hitting the ball hard, but right to people. That's something that is out of my control, but man, I just have to keep playing hard one play at a time and be the best that I can for the team and my teammates.”

It's a good attitude to have, but obviously not ideal for Cardinals fans to hear about the lost confidence after he signed a five-year, $87.5 million deal with the team during the offseason. St. Louis has simply been abysmal in 2023, losing 10 of their last 13 games after a 4-3 defeat at the hands of the San Francisco Giants on Monday night at Busch Stadium.

Contreras was hitless in that contest, dropping his batting average to a brutal .201 — 42 points lower than what he hit last season as an All-Star starter and 36 points lower than his worst MLB season in 2021 when he batted .237, per Denton.

In his last 18 games, Contreras is just 5-for-59 with two home runs and three RBIs.

“I'm looking for answers, for sure, but we're playing [poorly] and that's really the only answer right now,” he made clear.

It's going to take a remarkable turnaround for Willson Contreras and the Cardinals to even think about getting competitive for a wildcard spot in the NL, as they currently sit 7.5 games back. The Missouri-based franchise needs to figure it out immediately or the season is going to be lost before it's halfway finished.