ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The Cardinals disastrous 2023 season is almost over, but they will play the final nine games of the season without two starters.
On Friday, the St. Louis Cardinals announced that both catcher Willson Contreras and third baseman Nolan Arenado were placed on the 10-day injured list Friday, which will end both players seasons.
Contreras was placed on the IL with left wrist tendinitis, while Arenado was placed on it with lower back spasms.
The Cardinals recalled Michael Siani from Triple-A Memphis while the team also selected the contract of infielder Irving Lopez to replace both players on the 28-man roster.
Outfielder Dylan Carlson was transferred to the 60-day IL as a corresponding move to put Lopez on the 40-man roster.
For Contreras and Arenado, the IL stint will mark a disappointing end to 2023 for both players. Both players had to deal with a lots of adversity this season.
Contreras overall didn't have a bad season at the plate, with the catcher hitting .264/.358/.467 slash line, along with 20 home runs and 67 RBIs. Contreras was still a good hitter, with Contreras OPS being 25 percent higher than the OPS of an average MLB hitter.
However, Contreras did have to deal with criticisms with his work behind the plate at catcher early on in the season, with team announcing that Contreras was removed from catching duties in May only to backtrack on that statement days later.
Arenado will likely like to forget 2023 too. Coming off of a top three finish in NL MVP voting in 2022, expectations were Arenado would be his usual self, however Arenado's form regressed both offensively and defensively in 2023.
Arenado slash line of .266/.315/.459 to go with 26 home runs and 93 RBIs were a far cry from his usual numbers, with the star third baseman's OPS only nine points high than the average MLB player. Arenado also has a bad start defensively, with Arenado advanced defensive numbers like DRS(Defensive Runs Saved) and OAA(Outs Above Average) were in the negatives for a majority of the first half. Arenado, however, was able to right that ship and put up a respectable defensive numbers with his DRS of 1 and a OAA of 5, but both were career lows.
Both players will now heal up and prepare for 2024. Both will look to get ready and help the Cardinals right the ship and rebound from the team's second losing season in the 21st Century and first since 2007.
