Cardinals' Contreras could return to lineup Sunday

St. Louis Cardinals manager Oli Marmol provided a litany of injury updates on Saturday to reporters, including Lynn Worthy of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Among those was an update on catcher Willson Contreras, who took a 103 mph sinker from Cardinals flamethrower Jordan Hicks off his knee in the season’s opener on Thursday and had to be helped off the field. Both X-rays and an MRI came back negative, and Contreras said he could return to the lineup as soon as Sunday after briefly catching warm-up pitches for Jack Flaherty between innings on Saturday.

Contreras, 31 in May, was the Cardinals’ biggest addition of the offseason on a five-year, $87.5M deal. Prior to signing with St. Louis, Contreras was the everyday catcher for the division rival Cubs since his debut during the 2016 season, posting a 118 wRC+ in seven seasons and racking up three All-Star appearances. One of those All-Star selections came during the 2022 campaign, which was the best of Contreras’s career: in 113 games, Contreras posted a career-low 21.1% strikeout rate and career highs in both wRC+ and fWAR despite a career-low BABIP of just .270.

In signing Contreras, the Cardinals appear to have found their replacement not only to Yadier Molina behind the plate, but also to the thump Albert Pujols provided their lineup in 2022. Given his importance to the club, it’s surely a relief for St. Louis that Contreras’s leg injury is not particularly serious. Andrew Knizner started behind the plate in Saturday’s game, with Taylor Motter and Brendan Donovan among the possible options to catch on an emergency basis while Contreras was unavailable.

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• Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar also suffered an injury during the season opener on Thursday, having injured his thumb on a slide into third base. Nootbaar, who was out of the lineup Saturday and hopes to play catch Sunday, is considered day-to-day. The 25-year-old outfielder was a revelation for the Cardinals last year, slashing .228/.340/.448 in 108 games with a 20.5% strikeout rate and a phenomenal 14.5% walk rate. While Nootbaar is unavailable, Dylan Carlson figures to take the newly-available starts in the outfield alongside Jordan Walker and Tyler O’Neill.
• Reliever Giovanny Gallegos has yet to make his season debut after suffering from back tightness ahead of the season opener on Thursday. Marmol expressed optimism about Gallegos, however, noting that his MRI came back clean and that, in a best-case scenario, Gallegos could be available out of the bullpen as soon as Sunday. Gallegos has been among the most reliable relievers in the game since he was acquired by the Cardinals in 2018, posting identical ERA and FIP figures of 2.82 in 229.2 innings of work while racking up 33 saves.
• Starting pitcher Adam Wainwright still appears a ways away from returning from the injured list to make his season debut, as he progressed to playing catch off the flat ground yesterday. On the shelf with a groin injury suffered in the weight room while with Team USA during the World Baseball Classic, the 41-year-old Wainwright is set to retire at season’s end. Wainwright has seen a late-career resurgence in recent years, posting a 3.34 ERA and 3.72 FIP in 463.2 innings since the start of the 2020 season. Until Wainwright is ready for his season debut, right-hander Jake Woodford is set to take his turn in the rotation.