Cardinals avoid injury disaster with Willson Contreras return looming
The St. Louis Cardinals have been through quite a roller coaster of a season in 2024. They've seen some major high points as well as some major low points, but through it all, they've managed to stay in contention in the mediocre National League.
At the time of writing, St. Louis is five games out of first place in the NL Central and they currently hold one of the three NL Wild Card spots.
This would have been an unimaginable idea a few weeks ago, when the Cardinals were in the basement of the NL Central, seemingly out of the playoff race entirely. But, even after they lost their All-Star catcher, Willson Contreras, the Cardinals never lost hope.
And now, Contreras is nearing his return, where he looks to add to his .280/.398/.551 slash line in 2024. Contreras didn't clear his rehab assignment without a scare though.
Willson Contreras involved in collision at the plate, seemingly okay
Willson Contreras suffered a broken left arm earlier in the season. After sitting out for weeks, he's finally expected to return on Monday, just in time for a series with the Atlanta Braves.
But that isn't before a scary collision at the plate caused major concern for anybody affiliated with the Cardinals.
Willson Contreras was checked on by the trainer and Memphis manager in the last inning he's scheduled to catch of the evening after a bit of a collision at the plate with a base runner that involved the glove arm that he fractured in early May. He tried to field a throw from…
— Brenden Schaeffer🎳 (@bschaeffer12) June 23, 2024
To have a baserunner, running at full speed, collide with the same arm that Contreras fractured less than two months ago is incredibly scary. Something like that could have gone terribly wrong for Contreras, sparking another injury or even a rebreak of the same fracture that he was healing from.
But Contreras came out on the other side of this scary collision, seemingly fine.
The Cardinals need the return of Contreras more than anything. When he was healthy, he was their best hitter. He held an OPS+ of 166 which is by far the highest on the team.
Contreras provides the Cardinals with another impact bat at the catcher position, which is something that can't be said for most of the league. If he returns to form, the Cardinals could begin to push themselves further and further up the National League rankings.
Baseball Reference still gives the Cards just a 13.6 percent chance to make the playoffs. St. Louis looks to make a mockery of this doubtful projection, with the return of Contreras boosting them in the right direction.
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