Cardinals fans hold their breath after Willson Contreras leaves game with an injury

UPDATE: Team officials have confirmed that Willson Contreras has suffered a left forearm fracture.

The St. Louis Cardinals and all of their fans are holding their breath this evening after star catcher Willson Contreras left the game writhing in pain after taking a swing off his left forearm on a catcher's interference in the second inning. Team officials have since confirmed he suffered a fractured forearm.

Contreras has made multiple changes to his catching style behind the plate after a rough 2023 season defensively, including setting up closer to the plate in order to frame strikes. Well, Contreras got too close to the plate on this occasion, and when J.D. Martinez took a massive hack at the ball, he made direct impact on Contreras' forearm. The video above shows the play, and it's clear that Contreras was in a ton of pain.

After sitting with a trainer and manager Oli Marmol on the field, Contreras got up and was escorted to the clubhouse.

Contreras has been the Cardinals' best hitter by far in 2024. In 107 at-bats this season, Contreras has posted a .949 OPS, good for the 8th-best OPS among all qualified hitters in baseball. All of this is coming off the last three months of 2023 when Contreras was top 5 in almost every major offensive category from July 1st on.

Even with all of the chaos the Cardinals caused for Contreras with his removal from the catcher position in 2023, he has emerged as a leader on this club and the heart and soul of their lineup. While the entire offense has gone ice cold the first six weeks of the year, it's Contreras who has continued to show up each day and mash.

We'll continue to give updates on Contreras' injury as information is made available.