Willson

Contreras

Contreras has no need for more at-bats. He’s 15-for-31 with two homers this spring. Although he’s no longer a catcher, he makes for a terrific fantasy pick at that spot as he prepares to serve as a full-time first baseman.

Contreras’s homer off Lucas Sims was projected at 453 feet. That Contreras isn’t expected to do any catching this year makes him perhaps a better bet for fantasy than he’s ever been. If nothing else, it’s less injury risk, more plate appearances and less fatigue. There’s also the chance of a performance uptick now that he can focus on hitting, but even without one, he still seems like something of a bargain at his current ADP (104th overall, per FantasyPros).

The Cardinals are giving former top prospect Jordan Walker every opportunity this spring to emerge as their starting right fielder with Lars Nootbaar and Brendan Donovan in center and left field, respectively. Willson Contreras entering the mix at first base complicates his path to regular at-bats at the cold corner, but Burleson figures to start everyday at DH against right-handed pitching, in addition to batting near the top of St. Louis’ lineup.

With Paul Goldschmidt hitting free agency, the Cardinals do have a hole at first base, but the assumption from many was that Jordan Walker would be making the move to that part of the infield. It appears instead that the 32-year-old Contreras will head to the not-so-hot corner, and this likely is at least in part an effort to keep him healthy after being limited to just 84 games with injuries in 2024. Contreras has enough offensive upside to be a quality fantasy first baseman, but losing catcher eligibility would obviously be a major blow going forward.

Being that there’s two weeks left in the season, we can all do the math on this one. Contreras finishes the year at .262/.380/.468 in 84 games. It goes down as the highest OBP and OPS+ (136) of his career. Pedro Pages and Iván Herrera will finish out the year as the Cardinals’ catchers.

Contreras has been sidelined with a broken left middle finger, but he is reportedly eager to get back on the field He will be reevaluated on Monday and then the club will “chart his path to a return,” manager Oliver Marmol said. Contreras has been out of the splint for the past week, so it’s possible he could return within another 7-10 days.

It sounds like this is a true fracture for Contreras, not just one of the hairline variety. That would typically mean 4-6 weeks or maybe a bit longer. Contreras is a quick healer, but at best, he probably won’t return until the final week. Pedro Pagés and Iván Herrera will share catching duties in the meantime.

Contreras will be out for at least the next week-plus, but it’ll likely take longer than that before he’s ready to return to action. The 32-year-old is replaced on the roster by Ivan Herrera, with Herrera recalled from Triple-A in the corresponding move.

It’s a terrible blow for both fantasy managers and for the Cardinals who have been relying on Contreras’ tremendous offensive production this season. No word yet on how long he’ll be shelved for, but with only five and a half weeks left in the season there’s no guarantee that he’s going to make it back before September is through. Ivan Herrera will be promoted from Triple-A Memphis on Sunday to help share the load behind the plate while Contreras is shelved.

The 32-year-old backstop was plunked for the 12th time on the season and appeared to be in a significant amount of pain after this particular one. He’ll head for X-rays to rule out any potential fractures. Expect the Cardinals to provide an update on his status as soon as that imaging is done.