Cardinals three-time All-Star suffers fractured arm

Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras has been diagnosed with a fractured left forearm, the team announced. The club didn’t provide an immediate recovery timeline, but he’s obviously in for a lengthy absence.

Contreras suffered the injury in Tuesday night’s game against the Mets. He took a direct hit on a J.D. Martinez swing as he went to receive a Miles Mikolas offering (video provided on X by MLB.com’s John Denton). Contreras was in obvious pain immediately, and testing quickly revealed the broken bone.

In a lineup where almost everyone has underperformed, Contreras has been the Cardinals’ bright spot. He’s hitting .280/.398/.551 through 128 plate appearances. Among catchers with more than 100 plate appearances, only Ryan Jeffers has been narrowly better by measure of wRC+. Contreras has also been by far the best player in the St. Louis lineup, handily leading the team in on-base percentage, slugging and home runs.

Young backstop Iván Herrera will step into the primary catching job. The former top prospect is hitting .215/.264/.369 over 72 trips to the plate. Pedro Pages is the only other catcher on the 40-man roster. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes that Pages was pulled midway through his game in Triple-A, suggesting he’ll be recalled on Wednesday.

Contreras is in the second season of a five-year free-agent deal. He’s a .266/.366/.481 hitter in a little more than 600 plate appearances as a Cardinal.