Cardinals pitchers don't come to Willson Contreras's defense after another plunking

In the bottom of the second inning against the San Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Willson Contreras was hit by a pitch.

Nick Pivetta's second pitch of the at-bat was up and in and beaned Contreras on his left elbow. Contreras was rightfully mad about the situation, especially considering the fact that Pivetta stared him down after the fact. Contreras threw his bat towards the St. Louis dugout and barked back at Pivetta.

Things escalated between the two clubs, and both benches cleared momentarily. Calmer minds prevailed, and both benches were issued warnings by the umpiring crew, and the game resumed play.

However, something clearly stuck with Willson following this debacle, as he would go on to walk, hit a double, and hit a single and score twice. The hit by pitch in his first at-bat fired him up.

Earlier this year, Contreras was removed from a game after being hit by a 99 MPH fastball by phenom Paul Skenes on the hand. This forced him to leave the game and miss the next one as well. After that game, Contreras voiced his frustrations with being hit by pitches.

“It’s frustrating. It gets old,” he said. “I know they’re not trying to hit me in the hand. I’m a human being. It gets old. I want to play. I want to stay in the game. I don’t know what to say about it. Protect myself, and hopefully somebody protects me.”

He was essentially begging for his pitching staff to defend him after being hit so many times.

According to Baseball Savant, Willson Contreras stands 30.1 inches away from home plate, one of the farthest back in the league. It's not like he's sitting on the plate or leaning into pitches often. Despite his placement in the box, he still finds himself third in hit by pitches this year, just two plunks behind Randy Arozarena.

St. Louis Cardinals pitchers once again fail to defend Willson Contreras, the club's de facto spark plug, after being hit once again.

The unspoken Hammurabi Code of baseball is an "eye for an eye" approach, but that style of play could be dated in the current game. There's also a chance that manager Oli Marmol didn't want his pitchers to throw at a Padres player out of fear of that pitcher being ejected while the Cardinals are hunting a playoff spot.

There were several moments in the game where starting pitcher Miles Mikolas could have plunked a batter without creating a sticky situation for himself. In the top of the fifth inning, Fernando Tatis Jr. was up to bat with two outs and no one on. Mikolas could have plunked the Padres' best hitter then without putting himself into too much trouble.

Manny Machado was due up first in the top of the sixth inning, another good opportunity to return the favor. Mikolas and Marmol once again sat on their hands and failed to defend Contreras.

In the past, both the pitcher and the manager have been willing to defend Contreras. After Willy was hit in the head by Ian Happ's backswing during the 2023 season, causing his head to bleed, Mikolas was the one to plunk Happ later in the game.

Willson Contreras has been one of the best players on the team this year. He's the heart and soul of the team, and he deserves support from his teammates. Sadly, they haven't been defending him the way they should.