Tag: Willson Contreras

Maybe placing catchers right where batters swing isn’t a good idea after all

It turns out Major League hitters swing really hard and you shouldn’t stand in the way

Because Major League Baseball hasn’t quite given into the inevitable robot umpires that will someday (soon) oversee our national pastime, teams all around the sport are still doing their best to exploit whatever disadvantage the human eye holds.

This is how you get a generation of ballplayers to to value framing pitches as strikes over actually throwing strikes. And if making a pitch look like a strike requires less effort (read: money), then there’s no reason to invest in the latter.

Which is how you end up with a case like Willson Contreras writhing in pain on Wednesday after his arm was shattered by the bat of New York Mets slugger J.D. Martinez while catching for Miles Mikolas.

It seemed easy to call this a freak injury in the moment, but that’s only because the explanation is so obviously senseless you almost can’t believe a team would put its $87.5 million All-Star backstop in deliberate danger.

Yet here we are. Teams know calling balls and strikes is so subjective that if you place a catcher directly in the swing path of a hitter, you just might be able to block an umpire’s field of vision enough to convince them that a low ball was actually a clear strike.

Sometimes it works. Sometimes it leads to this:

Officially, the injury goes down as a forearm fracture requiring surgery and a 6-8 week recovery window. Contreras could be back after the All-Star Game in July. What the injury report won’t say is that the cause was workplace indifference to employee safety.

“It’s a huge risk,” Cardinals manager Oli Marmol told reporters about moving catchers closer to the plate after the game. “It’s been talked about. Even in the offseason it was a topic in discussion because there was an increase in [catchers’ interference calls]. The more catchers are evaluated on framing, the more catchers are getting closer to the pitcher in order to get that low pitch.

“The risk is high. We just experienced it.”

This is what happens when you try to Moneyball every aspect of the game. How much is a strike truly worth if the risk is putting one of your most important players on the shelf?

St. Louis might not be the last to find out the answer to that. Not in a copy-cat league. If one team is getting better calls because of positioning, many will follow their lead. Which is how you go from catcher’s interference being called once every 50.6 games in 2023 to once every 32 games in 2024.

There is simply no reason a catcher should have to put his arm anywhere inside the batter’s box and any coach who suggests that as a legitimate strategy should be laughed out of the room. Instead, it’s debated and settled on during the offseason as if the game is played on paper.

Pitch framing is certainly a skill the same way flopping is a skill in basketball. The only difference is that we know, some day soon, robot umpires are going to make that skill irrelevant. There’s no need to game a system that’s already on the way out.

This injury was so avoidable you have to consider firing the coaches who put Contreras in this position. Or at the very least, the next time one of them suggests standing in between J.D. Martinez’s bat and a baseball, have them demonstrate how they’d do it first.

Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas ejected in the first inning after bizarre sequence against the Cubs

What a wacky start to this Cardinals-Cubs game!

Miles Mikolas’ start against the Chicago Cubs didn’t even last a complete half inning thanks to some truly bizarre first inning shenanigans.

On Thursday, the St. Louis Cardinals were hosting the Cubs with Mikolas on the pitcher’s mound to start the game. Mikolas made it through two outs relatively easily before complete chaos ensued.

First, catcher Willson Contreras left the game after being hit in the head by Ian Happ’s errant backswing. Contreras was bleeding from his head when he left, but Happ and the Cardinals catcher seemed to make amends as he was escorted off the field.

MORE: Every MLB stadium, ranked worst to best

Mikolas’ next pitch, however, is when things got dicey. Mikolas threw a fastball that went up and in on Happ, missing the Cubs outfielder. Then on the next pitch, Mikolas hit Happ on the backside with another fastball, which then earned the Cardinals pitcher an ejection after an umpire conference. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol even got ejected as well arguing the call!

Here’s how the whole bizarre sequence went down, starting with Happ’s backswing hit on Contreras.

Definitely one of the more weird situations we’ve seen in baseball this year. All at the top of the first, no less!

MLB fans were completely divided over the incident on Twitter. Was it wrong that Mikolas was given no warning for hitting Happ? Was Happ’s backswing that hit Contreras intentional? Here’s what Twitter had to say about the whole affair.

The drama between Willson Contreras and the St. Louis Cardinals, explained

Why are the struggling Cardinals blaming Willson Contreras?

Welcome to FTW Explains, a guide to catching up on and better understanding stuff going on in the world. Are you wondering about why the St. Louis Cardinals are relieving Willson Contreras of catching duties? We’re here to help.

We’re still just over a month into the 2023 MLB season, but it has been far from an ideal start for the St. Louis Cardinals. One season after St. Louis won 93 games and a National League Central title, the Cardinals are sitting at the bottom of the entire National League.

That has the whole organization looking for answers. After all, a team with Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado and winning pedigree should not be *this* bad. And for manager Oliver Marmol, newly acquired catcher Willson Contreras appears to be the problem.

Let’s break down what’s going on with the Cardinals.

Madison Bumgarner got in the weirdest shouting match with Willson Contreras over a hard swing

Bumgarner was at it again.

In the current generation of Major League Baseball, there are few players out there who hate fun and personality more than Madison Bumgarner. The slightest hint of showboating will send Bumgarner off on a tirade — it’s been that way for much of his career.

But now, Bumgarner is getting mad at opponents for trying too hard for his liking. At least it sure seemed that way on Wednesday.

During the third inning of the Diamondbacks’ game against the Cardinals, Bumgarner did not appreciate a hard swing foul and post-swing scream from Willson Contreras. Like, all Contreras did was swing hard and make a noise. Pitchers — like Max Scherzer — grunt and scream when they pitch all the time. Bumgarner oddly wouldn’t tolerate that from Contreras.

The Cardinals broadcast picked up Bumgarner saying, “Shut the (expletive) up, you (expletive), (expletive) you.”

And you can understand how Contreras took issue with that. Bumgarner was out there throwing a tantrum over nothing. Contreras would end up walking in the at-bat (with a bat flip) and scoring in the inning.

Fans also had thoughts on Bumgarner’s antics.

Willson Contreras had a cool tribute to Yadier Molina after replacing him as the Cardinals catcher

The great catching tradition lives on in St. Louis.

The St. Louis Cardinals are entering a strange place this season. For the first time since the 2004 season, they will not be rostering either of the great Albert Pujols or Yadier Molina.

It’s the latter of which they’ve already found a very appropriate replacement: Three-time All-Star catcher and former Chicago Cub Willson Contreras.

As Contreras nears his Cardinals debut behind the plate on Opening Day, he shared that he has quite the tribute prepared for Molina. The young catcher had custom cleats made in honor of Molina that read “Respect4” — Molina’s jersey number.

To explain himself, Contreras noted that he has nothing but “respect” for his idol. What a perfect way to show it:

It’ll take a lot for Contreras to fill the shoes of someone like Molina. But if he can maintain his previous All-Star form, something says Contreras will also be paying respect to the legend’s Cardinals career in the best way possible — on the field.

Michael Chavis and Willson Contreras both struck out on the weirdest clock violations after foul balls

Old habits are tough to break.

Opening Day is just over a week away, and MLB players are running out of time to get adjusted to the new rules. After all, old habits are tough to break.

In the past couple days alone, we’ve seen two eerily similar strikeouts by virtue of pitch-clock violations. According to the new MLB rules, the batter must be completely in the box and alert to the pitcher by the eight-second mark. Failure to do so results in an automatic strike.

So, you really don’t want that automatic strike to happen in a two-strike count. Both Michael Chavis and Willson Contreras learned that the hard way this week.

During Monday’s Grapefruit League game between the Marlins and Cardinals, Contreras was called out on strikes because he was too busy adjusting his batting gloves following a foul ball.

The umpire even gave Contreras a couple extra seconds to get himself ready, but the Cardinals catcher simply took too long. Then, in another game involving the Cardinals, the Nationals’ Michael Chavis was called out on strikes when he essentially did the same thing as Contreras. He took too long to adjust his batting gloves after a foul ball with two strikes.

That one seemed awfully close as the camera cut away right at the eight-second mark. But Chavis did appear to be in the process of looking towards the pitcher right around eight seconds. And while there’s a reasonable argument to be made that a foul ball deserves more time, players will eventually get used to the new rules.

In spring training alone, we’ve seen progress with violations becoming less common.

Plus, players will likely be more cognizant of the rules once the games actually matter. Until then, many fans had mixed feelings on these two violations.

Cubs’ Willson Contreras, Ian Happ shared an emotional hug after possible final home game together

Willson Contreras and Ian Happ’s final Cubs home game ahead of the trade deadline ended on a bittersweet note.

The 2022 MLB trade deadline is fast approaching and Willson Contreras and Ian Happ may have played their last home game with the Chicago Cubs.

After Tuesday’s 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, cameras caught Contreras and Happ sharing quite the emotional hug in Chicago’s dugout. Both players have spent their entire careers with the Cubs — Contreras was a rookie when Chicago won the World Series in 2016 and Happ joined the team the year after — and trade rumors suggest both are leaving the team by the August 2 deadline.

Not only that, Contreras was given a standing ovation from the Cubs faithful during the game to mark the coming inevitability.

So, yeah, it’s no wonder Tuesday’s game was a bittersweet moment for the pair with the trade deadline just days away. If you’re a Cubs fan, you might want to grab some tissues before you watch these videos.

Trade deadline season is never easy for teams with long-standing players, especially ones that have made such a big impact as Contreras and Happ have for the Cubs. It’s a shame it likely has to end this way in Chicago for these guys.

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Willson Contreras took in emotional standing ovation in potentially his final Wrigley Field home game

No, YOU’RE crying.

Willson Contreras has spent his entire big-league career with the Cubs. He was signed by the team back in 2009 as a teenager and developed into a three-time All-Star and World Series champion at catcher.

But with Contreras in the final year of his contract and the Cubs out of contention in the National League (and unwilling to spend on players), Willson’s days on the North Side appear to be numbered. According to Sports Illustrated, the Cubs and Mets are engaged in trade talks to send the All-Star catcher to New York in exchange for prospects. The deal isn’t done yet, but Contreras certainly knew Tuesday’s game against the Pirates could be his last home game at Wrigley Field.

The fans knew it too.

When Contreras stepped to plate on Tuesday, he was greeted to a loud standing ovation from the Wrigley crowd. The visibly emotional Contreras had to step out of the box to take in the moment — deservedly so. The Cubs will head to San Francisco to start a seven-game road trip after the game, so a deal could get done before Contreras has a chance to return with the team.

He followed up the moment with a single and would later score a run.

Assuming a trade happens, Cubs fans will clearly miss Contreras. They weren’t ready to say goodbye.

Los hermanos Willson y William Contreras se dieron un conmovedor abrazo en home durante Cubs-Braves

La gente se puede obsesionar con cosas como grand slams , partidos sin hit y entradas inmaculadas en el hermoso/extraño juego de baseball, y con razón. Pero todos esos aspectos seguramente quedan en segunda fila cuando se trata del amor entre …

La gente se puede obsesionar con cosas como grand slams, partidos sin hit y entradas inmaculadas en el hermoso/extraño juego de baseball, y con razón. Pero todos esos aspectos seguramente quedan en segunda fila cuando se trata del amor entre hermanos.

Lo vimos durante el enfrentamiento entre Chicago Cubs y Atlanta Braves (-185) en Wrigley Field el sábado en la noche. Después de que el arquitecto de la Serie Mundial 2016 de Chicago, Theo Epstein regresó a Friendly Confines un día antes, el catcher de los Cubs Willson Contreras tuvo otro reencuentro placentero con una persona todavía más importante en su vida.

Estamos hablando, por supuesto, de su hermano. El catcher de Atlanta William Contreras.

Cuando Wilson se paró en el home de Wrigley para su primer bateo, los dos se demostraron un apropiado cariño fraternal con un caluroso abrazo:

Traducción.- Que momento, Willson Contreras se para en home con su hermano William Contreras detrás de ella. Los hermano se abrazaron.

Aquí hay otro ángulo del abrazo de los hermanos:

Traducción.- Todo es amor entre los hermanos Willson y William Contreras cuando compartieron el campo juntos por primera vez.

Awwww.

El marcador final y quién le pegó a quién y hacia donde pasó a segundo plano comparado a momentos entre hermanos como este. No se pone mejor que esto.

 

Traducido por META

Brothers Willson and William Contreras shared heartwarming hug at home plate during Cubs-Braves

What a touching moment for the Contreras brothers.

People might fixate on things like grand slams, no-hitters and immaculate innings in the beautiful/weird game that is baseball, and for a good reason. But all of those aspects assuredly take a backseat to love between siblings.

We saw the latest touching example of this during the Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves (-185) matchup at Wrigley Field on Saturday afternoon. After Chicago’s 2016 World Series architect, Theo Epstein, returned to the Friendly Confines a day earlier, Cubs catcher Willson Contreras had another pleasant reunion with an even more important person in his life.

We’re talking, of course, about his brother: Atlanta catcher William Contreras.

As Willson stepped up to Wrigley’s home plate to hit early on, the two first showed appropriate brotherly love toward each other with a warm embrace:

Here’s a closer angle of the brothers’ hug:

Awwww.

The final score and who hit what and where is definitely second fiddle compared to sibling moments like that. It truly doesn’t get any better.

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