Willson Contreras looks "built to mash" for the Cardinals in 2025

With Spring Training around the corner and players climbing the mound and entering the batting cages to prepare for the 2025 season, St. Louis Cardinals fans are getting their first glances at the team and excitedly murmuring about players who appear to be in the best shape of their lives. For those currently at the Cardinals' Spring Training complex in Jupiter, Florida, one player is standing out after having remade his body in the offseason.

Katie Woo of The Athletic said on 101 ESPN that first baseman Willson Contreras no longer looks like a catcher and that he seems "built to mash" in 2025.

Contreras expressed his desire to return to the Cardinals for 2025 in what will be a "retooling" year for the club, and he is prepared to move to first base in deference to Ivan Herrera and Pedro Pages. As a first baseman, Contreras will face vastly increased demands on offense given the position's far less laborious nature defensively when compared with catching. If Woo's comments are any indication, Contreras appears to be up to the challenge.

Contreras' first year with the Cardinals in 2023 was fraught with controversy, although none of it was the fault of the new Cardinals catcher. But while fans would have understood if Contreras felt dejected and wanted out of St. Louis, Contreras pledged to make himself better in the offseason, working with his brother to improve his defense behind the plate, and it paid off, as his catching metrics improved nearly across the board in 2024.

If Contreras' commitment to enhancing his skills behind the plate in the 2023-2024 offseason and his dedication to improving his body to stand up to the high offensive bar at the cold corner this offseason are any indication, Contreras should be able to assuage fans' concerns that he will struggle defensively at first base given the level of effort he will undoubtedly put in.

Cardinals fans will always praise those who exhibit all-out effort and a will to get better, and Contreras has emphatically checked both of those boxes en route to becoming a fan favorite. It will be exciting to see how Contreras' new physique and escape from the physically demanding position of catcher benefit his already fierce bat.