Five months right into a five-year deal will not be time to be questioning things.
But that appears to be what the Cardinals are doing regarding Willson Contreras, who’s already being moved off the catcher position only a month into the season, The Athletic’s Katie Woo reported Saturday.
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol confirmed Contreras can be used as a DH over the subsequent few weeks, and it’s also possible he’ll play the outfield.
The Cardinals called up catcher Tres Barrera on Saturday, with Barrera and Andrew Knizner expected to separate time behind the plate.
“It’s tough, but I’m an worker,” Contreras told reporters. “I do know my primary position is catching, but in the event that they want me to DH more, I can do nothing about it except by being the most effective hitter I might be.”
In December, Contreras signed a five-year, $87.5 million cope with the Cardinals, nevertheless it’s taken just over a month’s value of games to start out questioning whether there’s buyer’s remorse at play.
Contreras is hitting .280/.361/.421 with two home runs, and has the most effective OPS on the team, but a part of the explanation for the deal on either side was that he plays catcher — and has done so for essentially all of his profession, with 35 appearances within the outfield.
“We’ve had plenty of conversation about it,” Marmol told reporters. “This enables for some familiarity behind the plate with our guys, which I feel will help, especially within the state that we’re in.
“There are specific things and ways we operate that Willson continues to be talking to and learning. It’s a difficult thing coming from a unique organization and learning all of it. We’ve an internal technique to help with that, that can start moving in that direction over the subsequent several weeks.”
The Cards are off to an awful begin to the season, with a 10-23 record going into Saturday that has them in last place within the NL Central.
“One thing I need to make super clear is that we are usually not losing ball games due to Willson Contreras,” Marmol said. “This can be a guy that’s been in a tremendous amount of labor to give you the option to change into more conversant in one, our pitchers, and in addition how we do things. He’ll DH a good amount going forward, after which now we have a technique of what that appears like beyond that.”