St. Louis Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras has been sidelined since May 7 after suffering a fractured forearm in a freak incident, but there is some good news to report in his injury recovery.
Prior to the Cardinals' Thursday night matchup with the Colorado Rockies, Contreras was on the field throwing, catching and sprinting, via John Denton of MLB.com.
Contreras also threw a ball from foul territory into center field to flash his arm strength.
The good news for Contreras is that the injury was not to his throwing arm. It occurred when New York Mets designated hitter J.D. Martinez accidentally hit Contreras on the left forearm during a swing. Contreras had to undergo surgery to repair it.
The 32-year-old was enjoying a fantastic season before going down. In 31 games before the injury, Contreras was slashing .280/.398/.551 with six home runs and 12 RBI over 128 plate appearances.
Contreras is in his second season with St. Louis after signing with the club in free agency two winters ago. He was solid in his Cardinals debut, slashing .264/.358/.467 with 20 homers and 67 RBI across 495 trips to the dish.
The Venezuelan seemed to be on his way to having an even better 2024. We'll see if he can resume his pace once he returns.
The Cardinals desperately need Willson Contreras back in the lineup
The Cardinals are one of the worst offensive teams in baseball this season.
They rank 21st in batting average and OPS, 19th in home runs and 28th in runs scored. Amazingly enough, they are 29-31 and are right in the thick of the National League Wild Card race, but that has more to do with their decent starting pitching and bullpen.
That being said, Baseball Reference has the Cardinals' Pythagorean record at 25-35, so a regression may be coming.
St. Louis does have a couple of hitters other than Contreras who are having solid seasons. Second baseman Nolan Gorman has smashed 14 home runs and boasts an .812 OPS, and 22-year-old shortstop Masyn Winn is slashing .309/.359/.446
Some of the Cardinals' bigger names have been abysmal, as first baseman Paul Goldschmidt is slashing just .223/.302/.354 and third baseman Nolan Arenado lays claim to a .683 OPS.
Even though Goldschmidt is 36 years old, he is just two years removed from winning the NL MVP award after leading the league with a .981 OPS, so his sharp decline has certainly been sudden (although he showed signs last year with his modest .268/.363/.447 slash line).
Meanwhile, Arenado's bat has simply not been the same since leaving the friendly confines of Coors Field in 2021. He did flash an .891 OPS in 2022, but he only posted a .774 OPS in 2023. By contrast, between 2016 and 2019, Arenado logged OPSes of .932, .959, .935 and .962, respectively. The thin Denver air absolutely had an effect on his numbers.
Contreras has been, by far, St. Louis' best hitter in 2024.
He actually spent the first seven years of his big-league career with the fierce rival Chicago Cubs, slashing .256/.349/.459 during his time in the Windy City. Contreras also played a pivotal role as a rookie in 2016, helping deliver the Cubs' first World Series title since 1908.
The Cardinals will kick off a four-game set with the Rockies on Thursday evening.
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