MINNEAPOLIS — The Cardinals suffered a double whammy on Saturday. They didn’t just lose a ballgame. They also lost one of their team leaders.
Willson Contreras is headed to the injured list with a fractured right middle finger, which he suffered in the fourth inning of a 6-0 loss to the Twins at Target Field.
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Serving as the team’s designated hitter, Contreras was hit while leading off the fourth inning against fellow Venezuelan Pablo López. A 95-mph four-seam fastball rode up and in, catching Contreras flush on his right middle finger.
After team trainers attended to him, Contreras stayed in the game to run the bases, but when his spot in the order came up again in the sixth, Matt Carpenter pinch-hit for him.
“The ball went straight to my right hand, right in the middle finger, and it was really bad. I was in pain,” Contreras said. “We just tried to stay in the game to run and see if it got better, but once the third out was made, I came to the dugout, put my hand in the ice and tried to make it feel better, but it got worse.”
It’s the second IL stint of the season for Contreras, who missed six-plus weeks after he fractured his left forearm in a game on May 7 at home against the Mets.
“It’s been a tough year. He’s been beat up quite a bit,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “He’s fought through a lot of it. He’s played with some pain. … And when he went down the first time, he was leading the team in hitting, and he’s going down now and he’s [helping] do it again.”
Marmol said he expected Iván Herrera to be recalled from Triple-A Memphis to replace Contreras. The 24-year-old from Panama has slashed .279/.340/.378 in 54 games with the Cardinals this season, seeing regular duty the first time Contreras went to the IL.
“I think it’s just God’s plan — that’s all I can say, because pretty much I’ve been healthy all year except for those two fractures,” Contreras said of his latest injury. “My body feels good, my hip is not bothering me … my legs are fresh.
“I just think I’m not lucky this year, to be honest. I just think it’s part of baseball, not having good luck on my side this year, but I can’t control that. We still have a lot of games left, and I’m gonna be present for the guys.”
