Cardinals: Jack Flaherty forced Oli Marmol’s hand to remove Willson Contreras

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jack Flaherty may have had something to do with Oli Marmol’s decision to remove Willson Contreras as an everyday catcher.

The Cardinals pitching staff has been a talking point for the wrong reasons for several years now. While St. Louis was in need of a scapegoat, Jack Flaherty helped Oli Marmol find one in newly-acquired catcher Willson Contreras.

In a recent column by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, comments made publicly by Flaherty about the Cardinals pitch selection factored into the organization’s decision to give Contreras a break from catching everyday.

“Flaherty, though, doesn’t always appear in sync with the organization. Some with the club believe his remark in early May about, “Our whole staff, throwing pitches that don’t make sense,” led to the temporary removal of Contreras as catcher,” Rosenthal wrote.

Cardinals: Jack Flaherty forced Oli Marmol’s hand with Willson Contreras

That decision by Marmol came under much scrutiny at the time, and has not aged well, as Contreras is feeling the pressure and now struggling offensively. As FanSided’s Zach Pressnell wrote just a few days ago, the Cards choice to sign Contreras in the first place now looks like a bad one.

"“Through 62 games, Contreras has slashed .201/.293/.352, while currently having a career low in OPS+. His entire slash line is a career low, down significantly from his previous worst seasons.He doesn’t appear close to breaking out of this slump either. In fact, he has been much worse recently than he’s ever been in his entire career. Contreras is currently riding a 5-for-59 slide at the plate and has shown no signs of bursting out of it.In fact, to make matters worse, Contreras was asked about his slump and added, “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.”"

St. Louis has high expectations for its catchers, especially after over a decade of Yadier Molina behind the plate. Contreras has struggled to live up to that standard, and some of that isn’t even his fault.