Catcher Willson Contreras cleared to begin full baseball activities: Cardinals Extra (2024)

A month after suffering a fractured left arm, Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras was cleared on Friday to resume full baseball activities. Contreras underwent a CT scan before the Cardinals’ matchup with the Rockies and caught a bullpen at Busch Stadium. He will begin a hitting progression on Saturday.

Contreras has been on the injured list after fracturing his left arm on May 7, when Mets slugger J.D. Martinez hit Contreras’ glove arm with his bat while swinging at a pitch.

“It means a lot because when you have a surgery like this, you start asking questions about yourself if you’re going to be the same. If you’re going to be the same as I was before,” Contreras said on Friday before meeting with team doctors to gain clearance. “But as of now, it’s nothing that I worry about. I think I’m in pretty good shape, and I know that I’m going to come back stronger.”

Contreras underwent surgery on his left arm the day after the injury occurred and was given a six-to-eight-week timeline to return to the field. The timeframe sets him up for a potential return by the All-Star break in mid-July. Contreras previously expressed optimism that he would return ahead of schedule and continued to express that same sentiment on Friday.

“It bothered me when a lot of people said that I was going to miss a couple of months or two, three months,” Contreras said. “I was like, ‘Hell no. I’m not going to miss two (or) three months.’ But yes, I like to be challenged. I like challenge, but also, I have to be thankful with my body, because the bone has already healed.”

On Friday, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol did not provide a specific timeline for when the former All-Star catcher could return to his lineup.

“It doesn’t matter how fast that progression happens, right? It’s a matter of how he comes in the next day and how he recovers from it. All that type of stuff, which we don’t have feedback from just yet,” Marmol said.

Before Contreras landed on the IL, he batted .280 with a .398 on-base percentage and a .551 slugging percentage in 31 games. He hit six homers, 11 doubles, and has shown improvements from behind the plate in his pitch framing — the latter being an area he worked on over the winter.

As he readied to head to the field to catch his first bullpen since the arm injury occurred, Contreras said he had no difficulties squeezing his glove and going through different ranges of motion with his left arm.

When he begins his hitting progression on Saturday, he is expected to do so with tee work and soft toss.

Although Contreras expressed optimism about how quickly he could return, Marmol noted that Contreras’ timeline to return will be dependent on how he feels, how he responds to a ramp-up, and what doctors say.

“He’ll start his hitting progression tomorrow,” Marmol said. “I anticipate him wanting to do that faster than most, which I absolutely love, and we’ll make sure that we’re listening to him throughout this whole process and have him back in our lineup as fast as he and medical (personnel) feel like it’s appropriate.”

Matz ‘happy’ with first rehab start

Left-hander Steven Matz returned to the Cardinals clubhouse on Friday after pitching in his first rehab game since going on the injured list in early May with a lower back strain. Matz completed two scoreless innings and collected two strikeouts on 24 pitches (13 strikes) with Class AAA Memphis. The outing was his first since April 30.

“I was really happy with where I was at for the first time back out. ... I felt good with all my pitches and the results were good, so it was a positive day,” Matz said.

Matz said he is expected to make his next rehab start on Tuesday. His workload for that start has yet to be determined as is the location of the rehab appearance.

Marmol looking for Gallegos to ‘compete’

Righty Giovanny Gallegos continued his rehab assignment for a right shoulder impingement on Thursday as he pitched an inning of relief for Memphis after Matz exited his start. Gallegos allowed three runs — all of which came on a three-run homer.

The rehab outing was Gallegos’ third since being placed on IL on May 6. He’s allowed five runs and three home runs in those outings.

He is set to make another rehab outing on Sunday. The Cardinals are eyeing back-to-back rehab appearances for Gallegos that could come on Wednesday and Thursday next week. The Cardinals will continue to look for Gallegos to pitch without setbacks and will look for positive results from the righty.

“You want the first couple of outings … to be health-related as far as like, ‘How are you feeling coming out of it? Are you spinning it?’ That type of thing, and then how are you recovering postgame?’’ Marmol said. “This next several you want to see him compete and get outs, right? Now, he’s feeling good. He said yesterday he felt 100% coming out of his hand the way he wants to. He’s working through some stuff as far as the slider goes, but he felt pretty good health-wise.”

Extra Bases

The Cardinals have not named a starter for Sunday’s series finale against the Rockies. That spot in the rotation has been left open with Matz’s injury and has been filled with spot starts by Matthew Liberatore and Andre Pallante. Pallante would be on turn to start Sunday, but his availability may depend on his usage out of the bullpen over the weekend.

Right-hander Nick Robertson (right elbow inflammation) threw a “low intensity” bullpen and is scheduled to throw a bullpen with “regular” intensity on Saturday.