First pitch: Is Willson Contreras being scapegoated for Cardinals failures?

Fans of both the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals have had Monday circled on their calendars for some time as the day marks the return of Willson Contreras to Wrigley Field, the place he called home for his first eight MLB seasons.

However, the return of Contreras to the Windy City now brings about not just questions about his time with the Cubs, but also his near-term future with the Cardinals as well.

St. Louis moving Contreras out from behind the plate has been a shocking one and one that has stirred plenty of questions about exactly what’s going on with the Cardinals, a team that has the worst record (11-24) in the National League and the third-worst in all of baseball. And yes, while Contreras may be part of the team-wide issues currently going on with the Cardinals, he also may be unfairly under the microscope.

Is Willson Contreras being scapegoated for Cardinals failures?

Contreras has known for some time that things weren’t going as well in St. Louis as they could have been, telling reporters he had talked to former Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina about the situation in recent days. A key quote from that conversation is this from Contreras, “He (Molina) said he was watching the game and that we’re not executing pitches. That’s the same thing that I’ve been seeing. I’m not blaming anybody and I’m not pointing fingers at my pitchers because I’m on their side. But we need to be better at executing pitches with two strikes.”

With a 1-2 count, opposing batters are now slashing .230/.233/.359 against Cardinals pitchers. At 2-2, the numbers go to .227/.232/.387. The full count numbers, however, are a bit stunning. Look at the jump in the on-base percentage in the slash line (.218/.472/.394) and you’ll see an area where Cardinals pitchers have certainly not done their part keeping runners off the bases.

St. Louis pitchers as a whole rank 27th in bWAR at minus-2.5. At catcher, the Cardinals rank 19th at minus-0.1 (with Contreras by himself fifth on the team at 0.6). No other position comes close to matching the inefficiency found on the mound in St. Louis so far this season.

Before the season began, I wrote that St. Louis could well regret not bolstering their pitching heading into 2023. Right now, it seems that some moves to acquire arms would have done the Cardinals well.

For now, it seems Contreras, when serving as the team’s designated hitter, will watch from the dugout and learn about the St. Louis pitchers in an effort to make him a better fit with the staff behind the dish. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol has said that there are “nuances” that Contreras must pick up better before he once again assumes the role of primary catcher.

Marmol has admitted that any worries about Contreras and his pitch receiving have been lessened by the work that he’s put in. He’s also gone above and beyond to defend Contreras to those who are pointing the finger at him for the early-season issues in St. Louis.

In his first season in St. Louis, Contreras is learning quickly that there is pressure to win under the Gateway Arch. As he returns to Chicago, his new team is looking up in the standings at his old one and everyone in St. Louis is looking for answers on how to turn that around. Attempted answers have circled around Contreras in recent days, but the team needs to look deeper at its problems than just one player and one position.