Cardinals Catcher Contreras Limps Off Field With Injury

Adding injury to insult, the St. Louis Cardinals not only lost their season opener 10-9 in a wild see-saw affair, but they might also have lost the services of their big free agent signing, catcher Willson Contreras.

Willson Contreras had to leave the game earlier after being hit in the knee with a Jordan Hicks pitch pic.twitter.com/E97UDV238x

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) March 30, 2023

Contreras took a 103 mph pitch straight in the knee from Jordan Hicks, and was in obvious pain, eventually limping off the field. The pitch hit him in the shin/knee guard, but at 103 clicks, it obviously still stung him pretty badly. 

X-rays were negative, but Contreras is set for an MRI on Friday to determine the exact extent of the damage, and if he'll be forced to miss some time. 

The three-time All-Star signed a 5-year / $87.5M contract with the Cards in the offseason after a 7-year career with the Chicago Cubs. He was having a stellar debut game, going 2-for-4 with two runs and throwing out Matt Chapman on an attempted steal of second base. 

Backup catcher Andrew Knizner replaced Contreras after the injury, and now it's a matter of waiting to see what the medical imaging comes up with.