Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras has been diagnosed with a fractured left forearm, the team announced. The club didn’t provide an immediate recovery timeline, but he’s obviously in for a lengthy absence.
Contreras suffered the injury in tonight’s game against the Mets. He took a direct hit on a J.D. Martinez swing as he went to receive a Miles Mikolas offering (video provided on X by MLB.com’s John Denton). Contreras was in obvious pain immediately and testing quickly revealed the broken bone. Contreras told reporters after the game that he’ll undergo surgery and expects to miss six to eight weeks (X link via Denton). Contreras is shooting for a return around the All-Star Break.
In a lineup where almost everyone has underperformed, Contreras has been the Cardinals’ bright spot. He’s hitting .280/.398/.551 through 128 plate appearances. Among catchers with 100+ plate appearances, only Ryan Jeffers has been narrowly better by measure of wRC+. Contreras has also been by far the best player in the St. Louis lineup, handily leading the team in on-base percentage, slugging and home runs.
Young backstop Iván Herrera will step into the primary catching job. The former top prospect is hitting .215/.264/.369 over 72 trips to the plate. Pedro Pages is the only other catcher on the 40-man roster. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets that Pages was pulled midway through his game in Triple-A, suggesting he’ll be recalled tomorrow.
Contreras is in the second season of a five-year free agent deal. He’s a .266/.366/.481 hitter in a little more than 600 plate appearances as a Cardinal.