Cardinals To Shift Willson Contreras Off Catcher
May 6th, 2023 at 1:30pm CST • By Simon Hampton
On the face of it, the Cardinals’ decision to call up minor league catcher Tres Barrera didn’t seem like the sort of deal to make headlines around baseball, but the ramifications of it are significant. It’s not so much the call up of Barrera, but the fact his arrival means St Louis will shift Willson Contreras off catcher for the “next couple of weeks”, as Katie Woo of The Athletic reports, with Andrew Knizner to take over as the primary backstop.
It’s a huge move to shift your star off-season recruit off his primary position just a month into his first season, but the Cards clearly feel this is the best move to help them turn around their 10-23 start to the season. Contreras, signed to a five-year, $87.5MM deal in the winter, will now serve as a DH/outfielder for the team, further muddying an already crowded outfield picture in St Louis
At the plate, Contreras has been his usual self, slashing .280/.361/.421 with a pair of home runs, good for a wRC+ of 119. That’s a slight drop on his numbers from last year but pretty much in line with his career numbers. His offensive work was never likely to be the source of any concern though, with the focus here surely on his work behind the plate.
Catchers are a challenging position to assess statistically, but there’s generally been some question marks over Contreras’ work behind the plate.