Willson Contreras pleads for the city of St. Louis to rally around the Cardinals

It's been an eventful start to the 2025 season for the St. Louis Cardinals, but to no one's surprise, the ballpark hasn't been well attended in the early stages of their campaign.

The Cardinals' record sits at a mediocre 7-8 through their first few weeks of the season, and while there were plenty of fans who believed this would be a terrible year for the club on the field, the struggles of the pitching staff over the first few series turned what should have been a very positive record due to their offensive output into a sub-.500 record thus far.

Still, that offense, highlighted and led by so much young talent, has made this Cardinals team exciting to watch, and the club has a different vibe this time around that makes them a lot more fun to root for. I don't know many people who think that'll translate into a ton of wins this year, but Willson Contreras has made it obvious for some time now that he believes they can be that kind of team.

Contreras was one of the few Cardinals hitters struggling offensively to begin the year, and after an off day on Friday night, Contreras collected two hits on Saturday to get some momentum going, and then followed that performance up with a huge day on Sunday, mashing a two-run homer and collecting a double as well.

Contreras seems to be out of his funk offensively, and now he's calling upon the fanbase to shake off their rust and rally behind the team again.

Willson Contreras is calling upon Cardinals fans to pack Busch Stadium and support the players.

After the Cardinals' huge 7-0 win over Zack Wheeler on Sunday afternoon that secured a series victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, Contreras spoke with media and made a plea to fans to fill the ballpark and come out to support the players who care so much about this city and this team.

If you remember back to the end of the 2024 season, Contreras had some pointed words for the Cardinals' front office and ownership, lamenting the state of the team and challenging them to make a strong investment into the club rather than shrinking back into a rebuild or "transition year."

The Cardinals did the latter, but Contreras decided he still wanted to be a Cardinal and be a part of winning in St. Louis.

Contreras mentioned specifically their offensive struggles at that time, and as he tongue-in-cheek acknowledged that he did not know if the club would actually make any upgrades, he still drove home the point that the Cardinals should own the NL Central and yet were not making strong inroads at doing so.

Notice that Contreras did not try to sell you on the investment from ownership or how brilliant the front office has been. He's not going to try and fool you. While I believe he's excited about the opportunity young talent is getting (and he even sacrificed his position of first base to help fit in more playing time for Ivan Herrera), we all know Contreras wants investment into this team so they can punch even further above their weight class.

Even so, Contreras tried to remind Cardinals fans that if the way they take out their frustration with Cardinals' management is by not showing up to games, it hurts the players a lot as well. They are working tirelessly to make this city proud, and it is disheartening to walk into Busch Stadium and find it so empty when they believe they can be a special team, especially if the city rallies behind them.

Look, I'm not here to tell you how to spend your money. If you don't think it is worth going to games right now, I am not going to criticize you. And that does not at all appear to be what Contreras is doing here either. But I do think what Contreras is getting at here is important and hopefully resonates with this fanbase — ownership is going to do what they are going to do. Not showing up to games is not really going to incentivize spending — they've said as much already. But it's possible to continue to be vocal about your frustration with management and still support this team, rally behind them, and help what could be the next great era of Cardinals baseball start off on the right foot.