Exactly one month after the swing of a bat broke St. Louis Cardinals Willson Contreras‘ left forearm he was cleared to resume baseball activities. News that amazed the organization. Contreras had a CT Scan on Friday that showed significant healing. For weeks Contreras has been telling anyone who would listen he felt great, but now the medical tests proved his positive talk.
“I’m shocked actually,” said Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak on KMOX Radio on Sunday. “When that first happened, someone told me confidentially from our medical staff mid-to-late July at best. So just seeing what he is able to do and how quickly he is healing is amazing.”
The Next Step in Willson Contreras’ Recovery
Contreras had been working on conditioning drills and swinging the bat with his right arm while his surgically repaired forearm was healing. Now that he’s cleared, he will begin to catch bullpen sessions and swing off a tee with both arms. Contreras caught Andre Pallante‘s bullpen session on Sunday before the left-hander’s start against the Colorado Rockies.
“It’s incredible to watch him every day because there is deliberate work to make sure that he is back in this lineup,” said Cardinals Manager Oliver Marmol on KMOX Radio on Sunday. “That clubhouse respects the heck out of that.”
The Cardinals will watch to see how Contreras does with the added baseball activities. If his bullpen sessions and swinging progression go well, he could return to the lineup soon.
.@TheCatOnBallyTV has good news on Willson Contreras.
The #STLCards catcher was back catching bullpens today and is cleared to start hitting tomorrow: “I know that I’m going to come back stronger.” pic.twitter.com/jYGlcSjP2L
— Bally Sports Midwest (@BallySportsMW) June 7, 2024
“I think the next week to 10 days are going to be pretty telling. To see what we can actually do and how quickly we can push him,” Mozeliak said. “He’s one of the toughest guys I’ve ever been around so that part doesn’t surprise me. But even if you’re tough things do break from time to time, but his recovery has been amazing.”
Optimism Is Paying Off for Contreras
Contreras was preaching that he felt great for the past month. He told reporters after surgery his arm felt good and showed off a soft cast as the only thing covering his incision site. This weekend, he said he wasn’t surprised to be cleared just four weeks after breaking his arm because he takes good care of himself. However, even if not surprised he was happy to see the results.
Willson Contreras will leave this game after taking a J.D. Martinez swing to his left arm. pic.twitter.com/mJfiqOBf4t
— Bally Sports Midwest (@BallySportsMW) May 8, 2024
“It means a lot. Because when you have a schedule like this, you start to ask a lot of questions about yourself. If you’re going to feel the same if you’re going to be the same as I was before,” Contreras said over the weekend. “As of now there’s nothing that I’m worried about it. I think I’m in pretty good shape and I know that I’m going to come back stronger.”
Mozeliak had been providing weekly updates on Contreras on local radio. He would celebrate the Catcher’s optimism and toughness, while still preaching patience with the healing. Even if amazed at the recovery, he was prepared for the good news late last week.
“Yeah he’s made a little differently. There’s no doubt he’s an extremely tough man and how he prepares and how he trains is a very elite level,” Mozeliak said on Bally Sports Midwest. “To see him return this quickly, I guess I’m not surprised given what I know about him, but it really is good news.”
Returning to a Team in the Postseason Hunt
When Contreras went down, the Cardinals were 15-21. Since then, the team has gone 16-12 and worked themselves back into the playoff race.
Rookie catcher Ivan Herrera has performed well enough at the plate in Contreras’ absence. He is slashing .266/.333/.316 in the last 3o days. However, his arm strength is below average. Herrera is in the bottom 10 percent of the league for caught stealing above average at -3.
“This is something that he’s continuing to work on, it’s not a huge strength of his at the moment,” Marmol said after Thursday’s 2-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies. Herrera gave up three stolen bases that game. “He does other things well. This is something he’s worked on throughout the minor leagues and he’s going to continue to. It’s something that he’s paying very close attention to, but it’s also something that’s not going to happen overnight.”
Contreras offers a more complete version of a major league catcher behind the plate and in the batter’s box. He was slashing .280/.398/.551 before the injury. He’s also in the top 13 percentile of the league in caught stealing above average at +2. Contreras could help push the team above .500 with his play and with the morale boost of coming back sooner than expected.
“To see a guy break his arm, and just eager to get back in this lineup is fun to watch,” Marmol said. “It’ll be sooner than we think, and I’m excited for it.”
Main Photo: © Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
