Cardinals double-down on risky strategy after Willson Contreras injury

Disaster struck the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night when catcher Willson Contreras found himself on the wrong end of a freak injury. When New York Mets designated hitter J.D. Martinez swung late, the bat then made contact with Contreras’ arm, causing him immediate and obvious pain. It was later revealed that he’d suffered a broken bone in his forearm and will be shelved for the foreseeable future.

In the aftermath of the injury, though, it was uncovered that the Cardinals’ approach with their catchers this season may have been to blame for the injury, at least somewhat. St. Louis has been asking their backstops to get in their stance closer to the plate in order to help with pitch-framing, which is what happened with Contreras against Martinez after the Mets DH tried to catch up with a late swing before the injury occurred.

Naturally, one might think that this has led the Cardinals to re-evaluate such a strategy given the risks involved, which they and Contreras himself readily acknowledge. However, instead of doing that, they’re just doubling down on the approach.

Cardinals, Willson Contreras double down on catching approach after injury

Contreras, manager Oli Marmol, and backup catcher Ivan Herrera all offered their input on the risks of the strategy and their assessment of it it’s worth it, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch ($). And to at least my surprise, they all seem like they aren’t backing down from that strategy.

Even after the injury, Contreras called it “the best way to frame pitches” and later noted that risks come with being a catcher (which is, to be fair, quite true) and that this is another part of that. He also seemingly hinted at Martinez’s late swing as the real cause for the injury and added that he “hopes” it doesn’t happen to another MLB catcher, or any catcher for that matter.

Herrera offered a similar assessment while making sure to insinuate that they wouldn’t deviate from the strategy.

“There’s always a risk in anything,” Herrera said. “You can get a foul into the wrist. We’re trying to get strikes for the pitcher and get in the best position. It happened to Willson today. It could happen to me, too.”

As for Marmol, he seemingly offered no remorse for the strategy despite clearly knowing the risky nature of setting up that close to home plate.

“The risk is high. We just experienced it,” Marmol said. “It’s a huge risk, and it’s been talked about. Even in the offseason it was a topic of discussion because there was an increase in them. The more catchers are evaluated on framing, the closer they’re getting to the hitter to get that low pitch.”

It’s a bit shocking to hear that from a club that just suffered such a costly injury at the worst time. The Cardinals dropped to a dismal 15-21 with a second straight loss to the Mets in the game wherein the Contreras injury occurred and before Wednesday’s matinee series finale was postponed. They clearly hate to see the injury happen, but the strategy they aren’t re-evaluating at this time seems to be the root cause of it.

Having said that, Miles Mikolas, who started the game in which Conteras was injured and was on the mound at the time, offered a solution after admitting that no strike is “worth a player’s health” and noting that the emphasis on framing metrics has played a role in this risky approach to catching.

“I think there should be a line back there for the catchers and just have them stay behind the line,” Mikolas said. “That way no one can get any closer than the next guy, and if you put them back there in a spot that is deemed safe that might help guys.”

That seems like as good of a solution as you’ll find. But it’s not happening now and who knows if it will happen at all at the highest levels of baseball. However, if you’re the Cardinals, it might be worth a longer, harder look in the mirror about whether or not this strategy is worth it given what it just cost Contreras and the ball club.

This article was originally published on fansided.com as Cardinals double-down on risky strategy after Willson Contreras injury.