Two Important Cardinals Players Already Dealing With Injuries After Opening Day Loss

The Cardinals already have gotten bitten by the injury bug

It was a wild day at Busch Stadium on Thursday, to say the least. 

The St. Louis Cardinals welcomed the Toronto Blue Jays to town to kick off the 2023 campaign and fell 10-9. Even with the loss, it was an exciting day that saw the Major League Baseball debut of top prospect Jordan Walker and plenty of action. 

With 161 games left to go, the loss in itself wasn't the most important part of the day, but more importantly, the team already is dealing with injuries. New Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras and middle reliever Giovanny Gallegos both are dealing with ailments after Opening Day. 

Contreras was removed from Thursday's loss due to a right knee contusion that he suffered after taking a 102.7 miles per hour fastball directly off of his knee from right-handed pitcher Jordan Hicks. Hicks threw a fastball that forced Contreras to sprawl to his right in order to block it from going to the backstop in the eighth inning of Thursday's contest, and the 30-year-old was able to get in front of it, but it hit him on the knee cap.  

Cardinals manager Oli Marmol gave an unsurprising update on Contreras' knee after the game, according to The Athletic's Katie Woo. 

"Willson's hurting pretty good," Marmol said as transcribed by Woo. "Squared him up in the knee. He was having a hard time putting any weight on it, let alone trying to bend it." 

As of Friday morning, there was no update or timeline for how much time Contreras potentially could miss if any. He may need a stint on the injured list and more information should be available shortly. 

Gallegos didn't appear in Thursday's loss because he currently is dealing with a lower back injury, according to Woo. 

"Marmol indicated after the game he would've initially gone with (Ryan Helsley), but Gallegos became unexpectedly unavailable hours before first pitch," Woo said. "Gallegos tweaked his lower back lifting weights during a workout Wednesday afternoon and felt his back seize back up again when throwing before Thursday's game."  

The 31-year-old has spent the last four full seasons with St. Louis and has been one of the team's most dependable relievers. Over that stretch, Gallegos has compiled a 2.82 ERA in 214 appearances to go along with 284 strikeouts.

Hopefully, Contreras and Gallegos can return to the field very soon. The Cardinals are set to return to action Saturday afternoon against the Blue Jays with the first pitch scheduled for 2:15 p.m. ET. 

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