STL Cardinals admitted offseason signing failed with latest lineup, roster move
By Josh Wilson
The St. Louis Cardinals have admitted a huge offseason signing has officially failed with their latest lineup and roster move.
The St. Louis Cardinals thought they had gotten away with in-division robbery when they signed Willson Contreras away from the Chicago Cubs — where he had spent his entire career — this offseason to replace the retiring Yadier Molina.
Instead, they appear to have gotten the wrong brother. Ironically, Contreras’s brother, William, is performing better on the division-leading Brewers. Milwaukee also acquired him this offseason via trade.
I already tabbed Contreras one of the Cardinals to blame for the historically bad April a few days ago, but the Cardinals have now admitted that things just aren’t working with him behind the plate.
Cardinals latest lineup and roster move prove hope might be lost with Willson Contreras
Katie Woo told us to do the math.
Related to the Tres Barrera move:
— Katie Woo (@katiejwoo) May 6, 2023
Andrew Knizner is catching Adam Wainwright today, the afternoon after catching the night game.
Willson Contreras is DHing today. You do the math.
Not long after, Oli Marmol did the mat for us…
#STLCards manager Oli Marmol affirmed that Willson Contreras will be used almost exclusively as a DH in the coming weeks.
— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) May 6, 2023
In an attempt to enhance familiarity with pitchers, Andrew Knizner will do the bulk of the catching over the next two weeks. Tres Barrera will catch some.
Andrew Knizner is in the starting lineup today despite starting 18 hours ago. To add to that, the Cardinals recently called up another catcher, Tres Barrera, as Woo points out. Contreras is not absent from the lineup altogether, but he is in the designated hitter slot. Not at all where the Cardinals signed him to be on a day like today.
Marmol’s confirmation of Contreras being firmly entrenched in the DH spot is a massive indictment of his abilities in the position now.
St. Louis has lost enough confidence to run their backup catcher out on short rest instead of putting Contreras out there.
Uncomfortable questions have to be asked about his abilities and role on the team. Already, he has committed three errors (four all of 2022 for the Cubs) and struggles tremendously in pitch framing compared to the league average.
The question marks have been all around the pitching staff this season in St. Louis, but the catcher plays a great deal into pitching success, too. Contreras might be due even more blame than he’s received at this point. If the Cardinals will be rolling with Knizner and Barrera more frequently, now, we might be about to find out how much is on his shoulders.
Clearly, though, the Contreras signing hasn’t gone even close to plan.
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