The St. Louis Cardinals are a team in transition. Cards fans understand this, as St. Louis is giving their young stars a runway this season, even if it means they struggle to hit above the Mendoza line – we're looking at you Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman. However, there have been some improvements, including Jose Barrero. While Oli Marmol would like to take credit for Barrero's improvement offensively, he cannot. Barrero credits Willson Contreras for coaching him up.
“We talked last night about him loading earlier, and tonight we saw the damage he can do when he loads earlier,” said Contreras. “I like to talk about hitting and I like to speak up when I see something. But, no, I’m not stepping into [Cardinals hitting coach] Brant Brown’s shoes. I don’t like to step on anybody’s toes. But you can tell when a hitter is late or too early and I just told him, ‘Load earlier and you’ll be fine.’”
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Willson Contreras helped Cardinals teammate break out of a slump
After receiving Contreras' advice, Barrero homered for the first time since 2023. The Cardinals had weeks to give Barrero the simple critique he got from his own teammate in one conversation. What am I missing? Heck, Contreras even had some wise words for his younger teammate after the game. Rather than looking down on Barrero for his struggles at the plate, or simply staying focused on his own approach and statistics, Contreras opted to help others.
“Barrero has all the tools that are required to be in the big leagues,” Contreras said. “He has the talent, and he has everything that we need. He also has the energy and I’m glad that we have him here because we feed off his energy and he’s a good guy to have around.”
Contreras is not trying to take anyone's job, nor does he want to switch back to catcher. The former catcher is plenty happy at first base, and is slashing .355/.452/.532 during his 17-game on-base streak. Ar 32 years old, he has a wealth of knowledge to share. Barrero was just the latest to benefit.
As for Contreras, he might have a future in coaching. Marmol better step his game up.