Willson Contreras’ season came to an early end when the catcher was placed on the Cardinals’ 10-day injured list last week, though the good news is that Contreras’ bout of tendinitis in his left wrist doesn’t appear to need surgery, Cards manager Oliver Marmol told MLB.com and other media. Contreras met with a hand specialist who advised that the wrist problem can be healed through a non-surgical recovery process, though since this specialist was a second opinion, that would imply that an initial diagnosis perhaps recommended some kind of procedure.
Cardinals Rumors
NL Injury Notes: Hoskins, Davis, Mitchell, Candelario, Alzolay
Phillies manager Rob Thomson isn’t ruling out the possibility that Rhys Hoskins will play in the postseason. More specifically, the skipper told hosts on the WIP Morning Show that if Philadelphia makes it back to the World Series, Hoskins could be available to DH or pinch-hit.
The first baseman tore his ACL during spring training and has not played for the Phillies since last October. However, he’s taking batting practice and running the bases, and he appears to be progressing well. The possibility of his return remains a long shot – Philadelphia would have to make the World Series first, and even then, it’s no guarantee – but still, this is encouraging news for the club.
Hoskins has an .846 OPS and a 126 wRC+ in his career, both of which would rank second among qualified Phillies hitters this season. He was instrumental to the team’s postseason run last fall, clubbing six home runs and driving in 12 across 17 games.
In other National League injury news…
- J.D. Davis exited early on Tuesday night after a rough slide into third base. The Giants later informed reporters (including Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area) that the third baseman had suffered a shoulder strain, although the severity of the injury remains unclear. The 30-year-old has been San Francisco’s most durable player this season, leading the team in plate appearances and games played.
- Brewers rookie Garrett Mitchell was spotted on the field ahead of Tuesday night’s contest with the Cardinals. The outfield prospect has been on the injured list since mid-April, but he is hoping to return for the playoffs. The 25-year-old told reporters (including Adam McCalvy of MLB.com) that he could remain on the IL for the rest of the regular season but still make the postseason roster. He is awaiting one final medical appointment before he is fully cleared to return, and he seems optimistic about his chances to play some kind of role for the Brewers this October.
- Cubs manager David Ross spoke to reporters (including Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune) to provide an update on Jeimer Candelario. Chicago’s big addition at the trade deadline has been on the IL since September 11 with a lower back strain, but he could return as soon as this evening against the Braves. The Cubs could certainly use his switch-hitting bat in the lineup as they try to fend off their opponents in the Wild Card race over the final five days of the season. In other Cubs news, closer Adbert Alzolay is making progress in his attempt to return from a forearm strain. He is hoping to face live hitters in the next few days.
Adam Wainwright Is Done For The Season And His Career
Adam Wainwright will not throw another pitch for the St. Louis Cardinals, manager Oliver Marmol told reporters (including John Denton of MLB.com). His season is officially over, and with that, so ends his phenomenal career.
Cardinals fans were holding out hope that the 18-year veteran might make one more start at Busch Stadium, but the pain he has been dealing with in his back and shoulder has simply become too much to bear. He twirled a gem in his last outing, tossing seven scoreless against the Brewers to earn his 200th career victory. As his manager explained, the 42-year-old used “every ounce of what was left in that arm” that evening. Indeed, it was far and away his best performance of the year; he had not thrown seven innings in a start or made a scoreless appearance since August 2022. In what has largely been a disappointing season, Wainwright mustered the strength of his former self one last time.
While Wainwright will not pitch again, Marmol kept the door open for the possibility of a pinch-hit plate appearance. Before the designated hitter came to the National League, the 6-foot-7 righty was one of the better hitting pitchers in the game. He hit ten home runs in his career, including two in 2017, when he won the Silver Slugger. If he does not take another at-bat, he will finish with a .194/.222/.294 slash line, perfectly respectable numbers for a man who made his living on the mound.
As Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports, Wainwright will only step to the plate against the Reds during the final series of the season if Cincinnati has either clinched a postseason berth or already been eliminated from contention. Marmol will not give up an opportunity to play spoiler against a division rival. As enjoyable as it would be to see Wainwright take one last at-bat, that’s no reason not to play competitive baseball.
Any potential pinch-hitting appearance aside, this marks the end of a wonderful career for the Cardinals legend. In 478 games, Wainwright pitched to a 3.53 ERA, earning Cy Young votes in five separate seasons. He is a three-time All-Star, a two-time Gold Glove winner, and a World Series champion. Perhaps most impressive of all, he spent his entire career with a single franchise, an increasingly rare occurrence in this day and age. He ranks second all-time among Cardinals pitchers in strikeouts and third in wins.
Cardinals Select Irving Lopez
The Cardinals announced a series of roster moves today, recalling outfielder Michael Siani and selecting the contract of infielder Irving Lopez. In corresponding moves, third baseman Nolan Arenado was placed on the 10-day injured list due to back spasms. Catcher Willson Contreras also landed on the 10-day injured list due to left wrist tendinitis, a move that was reported on yesterday. To open a 40-man roster spot for Lopez, outfielder Dylan Carlson was transferred to the 60-day injured list.
The Cards are 67-86, putting them in last place in the Central. There’s little incentive for veterans like Contreras or Arenado to play through nagging injuries at this point, so they will get an early start on the offseason by sitting out the last handful of games. It was reported last week that Carlson would require ankle surgery, making his transfer to the 60-day injured list unsurprising.
As those players rest, it will open an opportunity for Lopez to make his major league debut. The 28-year-old was a 19th-round pick of the Cards in the 2017 draft. He has split this year between Double-A and Triple-A, hitting a combined .260/.368/.420 in his 346 plate appearances with a 12.4% walk rate and 19.1% strikeout rate.
He’ll give manager Oli Marmol a multi-positional option for the final games of the schedule. He has played all four infield positions this year, as well as the outfield corners and even made an appearance on the mound.
Cardinals To Place Willson Contreras On Injured List
The Cardinals are going to place catcher Willson Contreras on the injured list, with manager Oli Marmol relaying the news to reporters, including Katie Woo of The Athletic. The issue is tendonitis in his left wrist, per Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat.
Contreras left yesterday’s game with discomfort in that wrist and didn’t play in today’s contest. It’s unclear how significant this wrist issue is, but it will end his season strictly based on timing since there’s just over a week left on the schedule.
After spending his entire career with the Cubs, Contreras reached free agency after last season. The Cards had a vacancy behind the plate for the first time in years after the retirement of Yadier Molina and eventually moved Contreras across the division by signing him to a five-year, $87.5MM deal with a club option for 2028.
The results of his first year in St. Louis were mixed, to say the least. He has long been considered a bat-first catcher and that continued this year. He hit 20 home runs and walked in 10.3% of his plate appearances, leading to a batting line of .264/.358/.467 and wRC+ of 128. But he was given a grade of -9 Defensive Runs Saved, the worst such mark of his career. Both FanGraphs and Statcast gave him negative grades for his framing, though Statcast did like his blocking and throwing.
Concerns about his defense were seemingly the issue as he was moved off his position in May, serving exclusively as the designated hitter for a time. The club’s president of baseball operations John Mozeliak described the issue as a “lack of confidence” from the pitching staff, but Contreras was put back behind the plate a week later.
That ended up being one strange blip in a disappointing season for the Cards, who are currently 67-86 and in last place in the National League Central, guaranteed to finish with a losing record for just the second time in this century. It’s hard to know how much of those results are part of the transition from Molina to Contreras, but pitching was clearly a problem area for the club. They have a collective 4.81 earned run average at the moment, which places them 25th in the league in that category.
Going forward, it’s possible that the Cards could look to trade a catcher this winter, with Contreras still under contract for four more years. They are looking to add three starting pitchers in the offseason and could do some of that via free agency, but trading from their position player mix will likely have to be a consideration as well. Iván Herrera has always hit well in the minors and that continued to be the case this year, as he slashed .297/.451/.500 in 83 Triple-A games. Andrew Knizner had a serviceable season as well, hitting .241/.284/.433 in his 64 major league games. His 94 wRC+ indicates he was a bit below average in a vacuum but that’s quite good by backup catcher standards.
Herrera doesn’t have much left to prove in the minors and will be out of options next year anyway, meaning he’ll need to hang onto an active roster spot. Knizner still has an option year remaining, which could allow the club to hang onto all three, but gauging league interest could be one path to finding the pitching upgrades they seek.
Cardinals Place Alec Burleson On Injured List With Thumb Fracture
Cardinals outfielder Alec Burleson left yesterday’s game with a left thumb fracture, per John Denton of MLB.com. He jammed it into the third base bag on a head-first slide and initially stayed in the game but subsequently headed for an X-ray which revealed the fracture. The club today placed Burleson on the 10-day injured list, recalling catcher Ivan Herrera in a corresponding move.
The details on his expected absence haven’t been announced, but Denton reports that Burleson is likely done for the year, which is hardly surprising given the nature of the injury and the short amount of time left in the season. The Cardinals are buried in the standings with just over a week left to play, giving them little incentive to rush an injured player back out onto the field.
If his season is indeed done, Burleson will finish the year with eight home runs in 347 plate appearances. He only walked in 6.6% of those trips to the plate but his 13% strikeout rate is well below league average. The overall batting line of .244/.300/.390 amounts to a wRC+ of 89, indicating his production was 11% below league average.
It’s possible there’s a bit of bad luck in there, given his .261 batting average on balls in play and 60th percentile average exit velocity. But his barrel rate was only 5.9% this year, which is in the 24th percentile of qualified hitters, indicating he hasn’t been squaring the ball up with enough frequency. Given that he’s not a strong defender, he’ll have to produce better offensive results going forward, but he’s still just 24 years old and could still have room to grow.
The club is facing an interesting winter, as they are hoping to add three starting pitchers for next year’s rotation. Some of that work may be done via free agency, but they will also have to consider trading someone from their crowded position player mix. Burleson is part of an outfield mix picture could include Lars Nootbaar, Jordan Walker, Tyler O’Neill, Tommy Edman, Dylan Carlson, Brendan Donovan, Richie Palacios and Juan Yepez. Some of those players can also play the infield, but the Cards have Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt at the corners as Masyn Winn and Nolan Gorman are also options for the middle infield.
That’s more players than jobs, which should push the front office to have many discussions in the coming months about which of these guys can be exchanged for pitching. Burleson drew some interest from other clubs at the deadline but ultimately stayed with the Cardinals. Perhaps those talks will pick up again but Burleson also still has a full slate of options, meaning the club could consider keeping him around as depth.
In other Cardinals’ news, manager Oli Marmol says Adam Wainwright won’t start during this weekend’s series in San Diego, per Denton. The 42-year-old righty recorded his 200th career win on Monday and would have been on schedule to pitch this weekend but Marmol said, if Wainwright makes another start, it will be in front of the home crowd. “We’re going to sit down. … We’ve started that conversation and we’ve decided that he will not take the start in San Diego,” Marmol said. “We’ll walk through what it looks like to finish the season, but we’ve yet to make the decision.”
Wainwright is retiring at season’s end and the club is playing out the string on a lost season. Since he’s also finished his personal mission of getting that 200th victory, it’s possible he’ll start winding down with that special night on Monday as his final game, but he may also make one more appearance in St. Louis. After the series in San Diego this weekend, the Cards head to Milwaukee before wrapping up the season at home against the Reds.
Injury Notes: Correa, Kim, Feltner, Gallegos
Carlos Correa exited Monday night’s game against the Reds in the first inning following a flare-up of his plantar fasciitis. The shortstop told reporters (including Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com) that he felt a tweak in his heel as he ran to catch a pop fly.
Correa has been playing through the painful condition throughout most of the season. He was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis and a muscle strain in his left foot arch back in May but has avoided a trip to the injured list thus far. The two-time All-Star suggested he could sit out a few games to preserve his body for the playoffs, although he emphasized that neither he nor the Twins have determined a course of action just yet. He acknowledged that time off his feet would do him some good, but even so, he might prefer to keep playing until Minnesota has officially clinched the AL Central crown.
The 28-year-old is in the midst of a down year, slashing just .230/.312/.399. His injury could certainly be responsible for his dip in production, in which case a few days of rest would make even more sense. The Twins are all but certain to reach October, and now is the time for Correa to focus on restoring his health. That being said, it’s understandable why he’d want to take the field every day down the stretch. As the most accomplished and highest-paid player on the roster, the 2017 World Series champion has a leadership role to play in the Twins’ clubhouse.
In other injury news around baseball:
- Ha-Seong Kim sits out a second straight game, as he continues to deal with discomfort in his abdomen. The Padres infielder told reporters, including Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune, that he isn’t sure why he feels so unwell, and he’s waiting on test results that he hopes will reveal the cause. Kim has been a bright spot in a difficult season for San Diego, hitting 17 home runs, stealing 36 bases, and playing excellent defense all around the infield. Unfortunately, he has been slumping as of late, with a .204/.291/.282 slash-line over the past month; it’s unclear if his slump has anything to do with his abdominal pain.
- The Rockies are preparing to reinstate starting pitcher Ryan Feltner ahead of Tuesday’s contest with the Padres, reports Thomas Harding of MLB.com. Feltner has been on the 60-day IL since late May, as he recovered from a concussion and a fractured skull. The Rockies have an open spot on their 40-man roster, so they can reinstate the righty without making a corresponding move. However, they’ll still need to free up a spot for him on the active roster. Feltner was off to a rough start in 2023 (5.86 ERA in eight starts) even before a liner off the bat of Nick Castellanos nearly ended his season. Suffice it to say, it’s remarkable that he’ll be returning to the field after such a scary injury.
- The Cardinals have placed Giovanny Gallegos on the 15-day IL with right shoulder rotator cuff tendonitis. Jake Woodford was recalled from Triple-A to take his spot on the active roster. The team told reporters (including Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat) that the injury doesn’t seem serious, but they’re playing it extra safe as the season draws to a close. Indeed, they might have shut the righty down even sooner, but Gallegos wanted to ensure that he had properly addressed the pitch tipping issues he was having earlier in the season.
Cardinals Notes: O'Neill, Yepez, Romero, Flaherty
The Cardinals announced this morning that they have placed outfielder Tyler O’Neill on the 10-day injured list with a right foot sprain. First baseman Juan Yepez was recalled from Triple-A in the corresponding move. The sprain presumably brings O’Neill’s 2023 campaign to a close, given the limited time remaining on the regular season schedule.
Despite rampant speculation early in the season that the club could deal O’Neill following an incident back in April where he was benched by manager Oli Marmol for a perceived lack of hustle, no such trade materialized before the trade deadline on August 1. That could be thanks at least in part due to O’Neill’s difficult first half. The 28-year-old made it into just 29 games with the Cardinals prior to the All Star break thanks to a low back strain, slashing just .228/.283/.337 with a 34.3% strikeout rate in those first 99 trips to the plate this season.
While his season started off on a rough note, O’Neill has looked greatly improved at the plate in recent months. His .233/.329/.445 slash line in 167 plate appearances since returning from injury shortly after the All Star break is far more palatable than his early season numbers. His strikeout rate has plummeted to just 19.8% over that period, while his walk rate has ticked up to 12.6%, a considerable jump from the 7.1% rate he posted in the first half. With that improved discipline at the plate and the ability to play center field, O’Neill could be a valuable player to the Cardinals as he heads into his final year of team control in 2024, whether that be as a trade chip or as a piece of the club’s outfield next year.
With Lars Nootbaar and Jordan Walker presumably locked into every day playing time, O’Neill will have to fight for playing time with the likes of Yepez, Dylan Carlson, and Alec Burleson for playing time in the outfield and at DH, assuming trades aren’t made to clear the club’s outfield logjam. Thanks to O’Neill’s injury, Yepez will get his first extended opportunity this season to showcase his skills at the big league level. After a solid rookie campaign with the Cardinals where he batted .253/.296/.447 in 76 games, Yepez has made just 46 plate appearances in the majors this year, slashing a lackluster .214/.283/.381 in that limited playing time. That being said, Yepez has gotten on a heater at the Triple-A level in recent weeks with a .305/.356/.481 slash line over his past 45 games. If he can keep that sort of production up at the big league level in the final weeks of the season, Yepez could re-establish himself as a contender for more playing time in the majors headed into 2024.
- The Cardinals will be without left-hander JoJo Romero for longer than initially expected, as noted by MLB.com. Marmol told reporters yesterday that Romero, who went on the injured list earlier this month due to knee tendinitis, is “still working on strengthening his knee” and that the current plan is for him to throw another side session today before determining when he’ll return to action. Romero has taken on a high leverage role in the St. Louis bullpen in the weeks since the club moved on from closer Jordan Hicks at the trade deadline, and the 27-year-old lefty has thrived in his new role. In 17 innings of work (12 appearances) since recording his first save, Romero has posted a 3.18 ERA with a microscopic 0.79 FIP. That incredible figure is thanks to a whopping 35.8% strikeout rate against a minuscule 3% walk rate during that time frame.
- St. Louis parted ways with right-hander Jack Flaherty at this year’s trade deadline, dealing him to the Orioles in a buzzer-beating deal that brought back a trio of youngsters. That deal coming to fruition was far from a guarantee, however. As reported by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal earlier this week, the Cardinals nearly came to an agreement with the Rays to send Flaherty to Tampa, though the deal collapsed in the medical review stage of the process. Since then, the Rays lost left-hander Shane McClanahan to Tommy John surgery, further weakening the club’s starting rotation. While it’s worth wondering if Tampa’s interest in the pending free agent could carry over into the offseason, it should be noted that Flaherty has struggled badly since joining the Orioles, with a 7.11 ERA in seven starts for Baltimore.
Cardinals Notes: Nicolaisen Resigns, Marmol Staying Put
Cardinals assistant hitting coach Daniel Nicolaisen has resigned, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak confirmed to reporters, including Rob Rains of STL Sports Page. He has accepted a new position as an assistant coach for the University of Mississippi softball team. The Denmark native earned his first big league job this past offseason after two years spent in the Cardinals minor league system. Prior to that, he worked as a softball coach at Seton Hall University. Evidently, he has decided to return to his roots; he grew up playing softball in Denmark.
The Cardinals will be promoting minor league hitting coordinator Russ Steinhorn to fill Nicolaisen’s spot on the major league coaching staff, at least for the time being. Funnily enough, it was Steinhorn who initially hired Nicolaisen as a minor league coach back in 2020.
In other Cardinals news, Mozeliak also confirmed to reporters (including Katie Woo of The Athletic) that Oliver Marmol will return to manage the club in 2024, the final year of his contract. Given the team’s disappointing performance this season – this will be their first losing campaign since 2007 – speculation that Marmol’s job was in jeopardy began to arise. However, the president of baseball operations didn’t mince words, saying, “I know he’ll be back next year.”
Mozeliak continued, “There’s always going to be finger-pointing on what went wrong, what could we have done differently. And that starts with myself…but I’m certainly encouraged with what I see from Oli as a young manager.” Indeed, it’s hard to pin too much of the blame for the Cardinals’ misfortunes on Marmol. While some have criticized his public communication skills and player relations (RE: his squabble with Tyler O’Neill and his initial comments about moving Willson Contreras off catcher), there’s only so much a manager can do when his pitching staff is bleeding runs and so many of his players are underperforming.
Moreover, St. Louis recently lost a long-time clubhouse leader when Yadier Molina retired, and they’re soon to lose another in Adam Wainwright. It’s understandable why Mozeliak doesn’t want to go through another major change in leadership; after all, it’s only been two years since Marmol took the helm, and he led the team to an excellent finish in 2022.
However, that doesn’t mean there won’t be changes coming to the organization. Mozeliak offered praise for much of his coaching staff, including rookie pitching coach Dusty Blake. At the same time, he acknowledged that adjustments must occur behind the scenes. As sources told The Athletic, the Cardinals are in the early stages of restructuring their entire player development system, and the team views improving the baseball operations department to be just as important as adding more pitching.
It’s easy to understand why the Cardinals would want to revamp their player development and baseball operations departments. Several of their top prospects and young players have struggled to perform at the big league level this season, including Matthew Liberatore, Alec Burleson, Dylan Carlson, and Jake Woodford. The team has also struggled to make decisions, such as when they briefly moved Contreras to DH and briefly demoted Jordan Walker. Worst of all, the front office failed to put together a competitive pitching staff over the offseason, instead relying too heavily on a collection of aging veterans, injury-prone pitchers, and rookies. Suffice it to say, it hasn’t worked out.
The Cardinals don’t need to fire their manager, but clearly, they need to make some changes to address everything that has gone wrong in 2023. It seems to be a matter of when, not if, those changes occur.
Dylan Carlson To Undergo Ankle Surgery
Cardinals outfielder Dylan Carlson will undergo surgery on his injured left ankle, skipper Oli Marmol told reporters (including Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). The procedure comes with a recovery time between two and three months. If all goes as anticipated, he should be ready for Spring Training.
It’s an expected development. Carlson has been considering a surgical procedure at least dating back to the middle of August, when he landed on the injured list for the second time. He initially hurt his ankle in May, suffering a sprain that took him out of action for a month. He has also been dealing with bone spurs, Goold notes. Both issues will be addressed when he goes under the knife.
Carlson had a middling age-24 season. He tallied 255 plate appearances, hitting .219/.318/.333 with only five home runs. It was his worst offensive output since an abbreviated rookie showing back in 2020. While he has never broken through as the impact hitter some expected when he was a top prospect, Carlson posted a slightly above-average .253/.331/.412 slash in over 1100 trips to the dish from 2021-22.
He paired those decent offensive numbers with strong ratings for his glove in center field. Just over a year ago, Carlson still seemed to be a franchise building block. He was jumped by Lars Nootbaar late last summer, while the Cards turned to Jordan Walker and Tyler O’Neill as their primary corner outfield tandem. That pushed Carlson into fourth outfield duty even when healthy.
As a result, opposing teams inquired about his availability at the trade deadline. No deal came together and Carlson ended up going back on the IL a couple weeks thereafter. The ankle surgery complicates his status headed into the winter, but he’ll surely be on the radar of clubs seeking outfield help. Carlson is headed into his first year of arbitration eligibility. He’ll go through that process three times and won’t qualify for free agency until after the 2026 campaign.
Even if he just recaptures his 2021-22 form, he’d profile as a decent everyday center fielder. There are presumably some clubs that feel he can yet reach a higher ceiling in his mid-20s based on his prospect potential. While Carlson’s trade appeal is probably at its lowest point since he reached the major leagues, the St. Louis front office will still receive a number of calls.
The Cardinals mostly dealt away short-term players at the most recent deadline. They didn’t make any notable subtractions from their collection of controllable position players. Carlson again figures to be one of their likeliest trade candidates as they look for ways to add stability to the rotation in hopes of putting this disappointing season behind them.