Fastball

St. Louis Cardinals to Change Course on Controversial Decision

After saying last weekend that Willson Contreras wouldn't be used at catcher for a while, the St. Louis Cardinals are putting him behind the plate again on Monday.

Brady Farkas

St. Louis Cardinals to Change Course on Controversial Decision
St. Louis Cardinals to Change Course on Controversial Decision /
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The St. Louis Cardinals are changing course on a controversial decision and will put Willson Contreras behind the plate on Monday. 

The Cardinals, who signed Contreras to a four-year, $87.5 million deal this offseason, said last weekend that they wouldn't be catching him for a "while."

Now, they are set to have him catch Jack Flaherty's start against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Whether or not this becomes the norm again or is just a one-off remains to be seen. There had been rumblings that Cardinals pitchers didn't like throwing to Contreras and that the whole organization was too dependent on the recently-retired Yadier Molina at the position and wasn't ready for someone new to come in. 

Manager Oli Marmol told reporters the following:

“We felt really good about the progress that we’ve made and it lines up really well for him to catch on Monday with Jack (Flaherty) on the mound,

That quote gives some credence to the above speculation. If Marmol felt there was progress to be made, clearly someone wasn't happy with something.

At the plate, Contreras has continued to do his job. He's hitting .263 with three home runs and 18 RBI.

For his career, he's a .257 hitter with 120 home runs.

Contreras is a three-time All-Star (2018, 2019, 2022). He's hit 20 home runs or more in four different seasons. 

The Cardinals are currently in last place in the National League Central at 14-25. They are 7.5 back of the first-place Pittsburgh Pirates but are coming off a victory against the Boston Red Sox on Friday night.

They'll play Boston again today at 4:10 p.m. ET.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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