The Chicago Cubs got within 90 feet of a series sweep of the Miami Marlins — three times — on a boisterous, sunny Sunday at Wrigley Field. They wound up with a 5-4, 14-inning loss thanks to an ill-timed balk and a lot of marooned baserunners.
But it could have been a lot worse.
In fact, the good-vibe Cubs (17-17) won’t have to look far Monday to feel a lot better about themselves. The National League Central’s hot mess of a so-called division favorite comes to town for a three-game series.
That would be the last-place — by a lot — St. Louis Cardinals, who needed a seventh-inning outburst Sunday at home against the lousy Detroit Tigers to snap an eight-game losing streak before their first meeting of the season against the rival Cubs. At 11-24, the Cards lug the NL’s worst record to Chicago.
If the Cubs think it sounds bad to be told they’re terrible (or worse) at hitting with men in scoring position (3-for-20 in Sunday’s loss) or to hear Twitter calling daily for their manager to be fired, try getting celebrated as the $87.5 million replacement for a legend — and then barely four months later getting told you’re not good enough to play the position.
That’s where old friend Willson Contreras landed over the weekend as the Cardinals told the three-time starting All-Star catcher they plan to use him mostly as a designated hitter until further notice. It’s part of a shakeup in response to a woeful start that includes one of the worst rotation performances in the majors.
Cardinals starters have a 5.33 ERA even after a good start by Steven Matz on Sunday.
“I’m sure it’s a hard thing to hear and a hard thing to swallow,” said Cubs catcher Tucker Barnhart, who signed a two-year deal to backfill the free-agency loss of Contreras — the last of the core position players from the 2016 World Series champions.
“It’s surprising for sure. It feels like it’s really early in the year, early in his tenure in St. Louis, for them to make that decision. His skills are off the charts. He has one of the better arms in baseball behind the plate. And I respect the hell out of him.”
It should make for yet another awkward Wrigley Field moment for Contreras, who experienced two tearful goodbyes last season. He avoided what seemed like a certain trade-deadline departure when a deal with the Houston Astros fell through, then had a second “final” home game at Wrigley filled with rousing ovations and lingering postgame goodbyes to fans.
All of that in the context of crickets from the front office regarding possible extension talks.
If anything, this series seemed to line up as a redemption tour for Contreras, a how-do-you-like-me-now moment as the jewel of the Cardinals offseason, their handpicked answer to the retirement of Hall of Fame-bound franchise icon Yadier Molina. Especially after Contreras got off to a strong start at the plate.
“It’s tough,” Contreras told St. Louis media Saturday. “It’s tough, but I’m an employee. I know my primary position is catching, but if they want me to DH more, I can do nothing about it but be the best hitter I can be.”
He was hitting .280 with a .781 OPS when the Cardinals brass sat him down. He also ranked sixth among big-league catchers with 2.8 defensive runs saved, according to Fangraphs.
“That’s what he does,” said Cubs left fielder Ian Happ, whose hit off reigning Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara opened a two-run ninth that sent Sunday’s game to extra innings. “I don’t know what’s going on in their clubhouse. … Willson’s having a good year, right?
“He’s someone I’ve remained close to,” continued Happ, who exchanged texts with Contreras when each signed multiyear contracts in recent months. “I look forward to seeing him when he gets here.”
Rookie Miguel Amaya, the long-touted prospect who debuted last week and might eventually get an opportunity to be the Cubs’ next long-term starting catcher, sounded surprised by the news regarding his mentor but said he didn’t “want to get into it” before his start Sunday.
Amaya plans to find Contreras for a hug Monday and believes he’ll be facing him in the next year or so as rival starting catchers.
The Cardinals have suggested publicly this is a temporary move, and manager Oliver Marmol told St. Louis reporters: “One thing I want to make super clear is that we are not losing ballgames because of Willson Contreras.”
In fact, the Cardinals have experienced a multifaceted face plant since Molina left the building after the 2022 playoffs. Longtime rotation leader Adam Wainwright returned from an injury Saturday to make his season debut.
Happ compared the Molina loss in St. Louis to the Cubs losing face of the franchise Anthony Rizzo when team President Jed Hoyer traded him to the New York Yankees in 2021.
“You had to find your way about what that looks like after a guy like that walks,” Happ said. “Wainwright was still there, but Yadi was the guy that kind of set the tone there every day going out on the field for as long as he has. I’m sure it was different walking around the clubhouse.”
Cubs manager David Ross, a longtime catcher, wouldn’t talk about the Contreras news Sunday but did say: “Yadi did some special things. That’s one of those guys you don’t replace.”
Whatever is next for Contreras with the Cardinals, he’s expected to get a warm welcome from Wrigley fans Monday night, at least for his first at-bat.
After that, a Cubs team with one of the best-performing rotations in the majors looks to kick the Cardinals as often as possible while they’re down and take advantage of what suddenly looks like a chaotic, wide-open division.
“Obviously you didn’t expect St. Louis to get off to the start that they’re on,” Barnhart said. “And I still expect them to be in the mix at the end of it; they have too many good players to not be.
“But, yeah, it’s a division that feels like it’s winnable and feels like in here we have a group that believes we can do it.”
Fifth starter Hayden Wesneski might be the latest reason to believe with his third straight strong start Sunday after a shaky April. He went six innings and gave up only a Yuli Gurriel basket shot in the fifth. He has allowed only one run in each of his last three starts (17 innings) to bring his ERA under 4.00 (3.93) for the first time this season.
“Spectacular,” Ross said of the rookie’s performance.
The Cubs might have won if they had cashed in once more on all of those scoring opportunities — or if Adbert Alzolay hadn’t balked home the go-ahead run in the 14th during an otherwise impressive relief outing.
The loss in the third-longest game (by innings) since MLB instituted the designated runner rule in 2020 for extra innings gave the Marlins the season series over the Cubs 4-2 and dropped the Cubs to .500.
But, again, it could have been worse.
For example, have you ever had somebody say you’re not cutting it as a catcher?
“I’ve had people tell me I don’t cut it as a manager, as a catcher and in a lot of different ways,” Ross said. “So the answer to that is yes.”
Gordon Wittenmyer is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
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