St. Louis Cardinals Making Drastic Decision with Star

The St. Louis Cardinals are moving Willson Contreras to the outfield, huh?

The St. Louis Cardinals, off to a dreadful 10-23 start this season, are taking drastic action regarding star Willson Contreras.

The longtime catcher, who was signed to a five-year, $87.5 contract this offseason will not be catching for a while, per reports.

Kate Woo of 'The Athletic' tweeted the report:

"The Cardinals aren’t just considering using Willson Contreras in the outfield. They will be. Contreras won’t catch much over the next couple of weeks. He’ll be used primarily as a DH and corner outfielder. More soon on @TheAthleticMLB"

The Cardinals aren’t just considering using Willson Contreras in the outfield. They will be.

Contreras won’t catch much over the next couple of weeks. He’ll be used primarily as a DH and corner outfielder. More soon on @TheAthleticMLB

— Katie Woo (@katiejwoo) May 6, 2023

Pardon the pun, but that decision seems to have come out of left field. Alanna Rizzo of the MLB Network expressed surprise on social media at the report tweeting: "Wait, what?????"

This writer agrees with that sentiment. 

At this moment, there is no explanation of the decision. Contreras was signed to take the place of Yadier Molina behind the plate and has done a good job offensively at least. He's hitting .280 with two home runs, 15 RBI and a .361 on-base percentage.

Perhaps the decision has something to do with the Cardinals poor pitching this season. They have a Team ERA of 4.71 which is the fifth-worst ERA in the National League. They have allowed the most hits in the National League and the fifth-most earned runs, but that is pure speculation on my behalf trying to rationalize the decision.

The Cardinals did something that hadn't been done in baseball in more than 40 years with yesterday's loss to the Tigers.

The two teams will play again today at 2:15 p.m. ET. Contreras is hitting third and is in the DH spot. Andrew Knizner is catching.

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