Four mistakes the Cardinals have made this season that stand out above the rest

The Willson Contreras Drama

It was one thing after another early on this season. Not long after the Cardinals demoted Walker, Willson Contreras found himself taking a lot of heat.

In early May, the veteran catcher was pulled from the starting catcher spot in favor of Andrew Knizner, moving Contreras to the designated hitter position. They also called up Tres Barrera, who was rarely used and became a waste of roster space.

But the organization handled this situation very poorly, essentially throwing Contreras under the bus and making him the scapegoat. Fortunately, they did away with the idea of using him in the outfield, but everything that John Mozeliak and Oli Marmol said made the situation even worse and continued to stoke the fire, making it clear that they held Contreras responsible for the team's poor pitching.

The puzzling experiment ended relatively quickly, but the organization's decision to move Contreras out of the catcher spot was more reactive than proactive, despite them saying the complete opposite.