St. Louis Cardinals suddenly have a Willson Contreras problem

Willson Contreras was supposed to be the next great catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals. Suddenly, the Cardinals don’t even want him behind the plate.

Saturday’s wave of news involving Contreras was not positive for Cardinals fans looking for any glimmer of hope for a season that has seemingly gone off the rails. With the call-up of catcher Tres Barrera, Andrew Knizner will now reportedly get the majority of starts in the near future behind the dish, with Barrera serving as the backup. Meanwhile, Contreras will be shifted to a predominantly designated hitter role with the possibility of also seeing time in the outfield.

St. Louis Cardinals moving Willson Contreras out of catching spot is bad sign

Keeping Contreras in the lineup somehow makes sense. His .280 batting average ranks second among all Cardinals and his OPS+ of 118 is one of just five on the roster that is currently above 100 (considered league average). However, moving him to the DH role soaks up a spot that has also been productive this season in St. Louis with Nolan Gorman spending a lot of time there and racking up an OPS+ of 141 (second on the team) while leading the Cardinals with seven home runs. Taking Gorman out of the DH role forces him to go somewhere else, meaning it’s a domino effect for the Cardinals lineup.

Also, any time Contreras is in the outfield, he is just adding to what is already a crowded Cardinals outfield … and that’s even with top prospect Jordan Walker still lurking in Triple-A.

According to Katie Woo of The Athletic (subscription required), with the St. Louis pitching staff struggling this season (part of the big reason why St. Louis is slumping in the standings), there could be a lack of familiarity between Contreras and the Cardinals pitchers. Even with a spring training together, the shakeup means Knizner, who has only been in the Cardinals organization during his entire career, dating back to the 2016 draft, will help see something in the pitchers that Contreras didn’t.

Knizner, however, is slashing .156/.206/.250 in 35 at-bats this season … and has an OPS+ of 27.

The catching shift is a gamble, far more than the gamble that certainly didn’t seem like one when the Cardinals inked Contreras to a five-year, $87.5 million deal this winter. However, that move now seems like one that could handcuff the Cardinals if Contreras can’t move back behind the plate.

Moving Contreras away from catcher makes him a one-dimensional player and drops the productivity of the entire lineup. That’s yet another problem that St. Louis must solve in 2023.