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3. Willson Contreras has received too much criticism for Cardinals season
The Cardinals knew going into 2023 that it would be a different season. It would be the first in nearly two decades without Yadier Molina at catcher. The club had the opportunity to work with Molina and take notes of what makes him so clutch for the starting rotation.
This makes it all the more curious why most of the pitching staff was upset over their new catcher, Willson Contreras.
Instead of having the pitchers adjust to Contreras, Mozeliak, and manager Oli Marmol went public with their and the pitching staff's complaints about Contreras's preparation. Mozeliak and Marmol shifted him to designated hitter duties, allowing Andrew Knizner to take the starts at catcher while Contreras worked to pinpoint what the pitching staff needed from him.
While Mozelaik and Marmol insisted this could take a while, Contreras buckled down and quickly regained the starting job within a week,
He has a 2.6 WAR and is slashing .253/.348/.437 with an OPS of .784. He has scored 15 home runs, 47 runs, and 54 RBI. He seems like an upbeat clubhouse personality, as he always has a smile on his face.
It's still amazing that this got as public and one-sided as it did. It made Marmol and the pitching staff look petty. It was great that Contreras was resilient and didn't take the criticism to heart. He was a total professional, which should endear him to fans.