The St. Louis Cardinals will be without Catcher Willson Contreras for an extended period of time after an injury Tuesday night. As soon as the Met’s J.D. Martinez’s swing made contact with Contreras’ arm in the second inning of Tuesday’s matchup, it was clear the injury was serious. X-rays immediately revealed a fracture in Contreras’ left forearm. Contreras told reporters after the game he will have surgery on his arm and it will take six to eight weeks to recover.
“This is the most pain I’ve been through for sure,” Contreras said. “I knew right away it was a bad situation, then when I got to set down in the dirt it was numb, I knew it wasn’t right.”
Contreras Was The Cardinals Most Consistent Hitter
On top of being the Cardinals leading home-run hitter, Contreras was leading the team in on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS. He was also second on the team in batting average, only behind third-baseman Nolan Arenado. In the first inning of the 7-5 loss to the Mets Tuesday, Contreras doubled and came around to score, extending his team lead in both of those stat categories as well.
Contreras’ .398 OBP was 13th-best in the league and his .551 SLG was 12th-best. He was also in the top-15 percentile of the league for his barrels per swing percentage according to Baseball Savant. Contreras was one of the few bright spots for a struggling Cardinals Offense.
“It’s really difficult because I was going through a really good stretch,” Contreras said Tuesday night. “I’ve just got to get back stronger and be here for the guys, I think that is the best thing I can do.”
