Player News

• Cardinals' Willson Contreras: Moving to first base

  11/06/2024 • By RotoWire

  Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said Wednesday that Contreras will be a full-time first baseman and designated hitter next season, Katie Woo of The Athletic reports. Mozeliak added that it's unlikely Contreras will do any catching at all in 2025, with Ivan Herrera and Pedro Pages set to split duties behind the plate. Contreras has played 11 games at first base in his career, with his last start there coming in 2019. Contreras has slashed a robust .263/.367/.468 with 35 home runs over 209 games in his two seasons in St. Louis, but he's had trouble staying healthy and his defense at catcher has often drawn criticism. The move enhances Contreras' fantasy outlook for 2025 since he should be in the lineup more often, and it also bumps up the playing time projection for Herrera and Pages.

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• Cardinals' Willson Contreras: Ruled out for rest of season

  09/16/2024 • By RotoWire

  Contreras has been ruled out for the remainder of the regular season after having his fractured right middle finger evaluated Monday, John Denton of MLB.com reports. Contreras still needs two more weeks of rest before beginning baseball activities, so he will run out of time. On the bright side, he should be healed up in time to have a relatively normal offseason. Contreras will finish the 2024 season having been limited to just 84 games due to injury, although he was productive when on the field with an .848 OPS and 15 home runs. Pedro Pages and Ivan Herrera will continue to share catching duties for the Cardinals in the final two weeks.

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• Cardinals' Willson Contreras: Will be re-evaluated Monday

  09/12/2024 • By RotoWire

  Contreras (finger) will be re-evaluated Monday as the Cardinals plan out his potential return, John Denton of MLB.com reports. Contreras had the splint on his fractured right middle finger removed a week ago and should be cleared to increase activities Monday. There's not much time for him to ramp things back up, but Contreras could make it back for the final week or so of the season if all goes well.

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• Cardinals' Willson Contreras: Avoiding surgery

  08/27/2024 • By RotoWire

  Contreras won't require surgery on his fractured right middle finger, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports. Contreras will be considered no impact for the next three weeks, but if all goes well, he'll be cleared to start a progression at that time. It's unclear how long he would need to ramp back up, but he'd need to do so quickly to have a chance to return for the final week or two of the regular season.

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• Cardinals' Willson Contreras: Placed on injured list

  08/25/2024 • By RotoWire

  The Cardinals placed Contreras (finger) on the 10-day injured list Sunday, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports. The 32-year-old fractured the middle finger on his right hand when he was hit by a pitch Saturday against the Twins, so his move to the injured list was to be expected. It's unclear how long Contreras is expected to be sidelined, but he's likely to be out beyond the 10-day minumum.

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