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Predicting the St. Louis Cardinals 2024 Opening Day Roster
By Josh Jacobs
Catchers
(2) - Willson Contreras and Andrew Knizner
Back in Spring Training, I would have bet pretty heavily that 2023 would be Andrew Knizer's last season with the Cardinals. Since the beginning of May though, Knizner has played in 17 games and posted a 135 wRC+, which is the 7th highest among all catchers with at least 50 plate appearances this month. Knizner seems to have gained the respect of the coaching staff and clubhouse as well, as Willie McGee has dubbed Knizner the captain of the Cardinals.
As a backup catcher, a 91 wRC+ on the season as a whole, pretty good defense behind the plate, and that level of respect his hard to top. I think Knizner will retain his role for another year.
Willson Contreras somehow lost his starting job though for about a week this season, which I don't think anyone saw coming. Contreras has proven since that brief mess that he is the right man to replace Yadier Molina, and he will be behind the plate on Opening Day 2024. It will be interesting to see if he plays 110-125 games a year behind the plate, or if Knizner continues to eat into his opportunities.