The St. Louis Cardinals are essentially playing for nothing at this point in the season. They entered their series finale with the Cincinnati Reds with a 74-78 record and with four teams ahead of them for just the third National League Wild Card spot, currently held by the New York Mets. First baseman Willson Contreras was taken out of Monday’s game with a shoulder injury and was kept out of the lineup on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, it was revealed by Katie Woo of The Athletic that Contreras would miss the rest of the 2025 season. Jose Fermin was recalled from Triple-A Memphis to take his spot.
However, Contreras still had a strong season. Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report ranked him the 10th-best first baseman in all of Major League Baseball.
“With Paul Goldschmidt departing in free agency and Contreras entering his age-33 season, the Cardinals opted to shift the longtime catcher to first base in an effort to add longevity to his career midway through a five-year, $87.5 million deal. He is the team leader in home runs and RBI, and he has graded out well defensively at his new position,” Reuter wrote.
The Cardinals were lucky enough to have Contreras as an internal option to replace Goldschmidt last offseason. The three-time All-Star and 2016 World Series champion hit .257/.344/.447 with 20 home runs, 80 RBI, a 2.6 WAR and a .791 OPS. He also had a 122 OPS+ and picked up 126 hits in 490 at-bats.
Losing him is certainly a big blow. With him done for the year, the Cardinals will likely use Alec Burleson as the primary first baseman. But Contreras’ transition to first base this year was seamless. He remained an offensive force at the plate, but also performed well defensively at his new position.
The move allowed him to stay healthy and stay in the lineup for most of the year after an injury behind the plate cost him several weeks in 2024.
Contreras has also made clear he wants to stay in St. Louis in 2026 despite their rebuild under Chaim Bloom, so he’ll be back at first base on Opening Day when the Cardinals begin the new season.
It will be interesting to see if he can take more steps forward leading into next season.
More MLB: Cardinals To Lose $87 Million All-Star For Season: Insider
