Help is on the way: Contreras, Edman to start rehab assignments

CHICAGO -- Above .500 just one day this season, the Cardinals are about to move a couple of steps closer to getting some manpower reinforcements back that should help them be more consistent as a team in the coming weeks and months.

Catcher Willson Contreras and outfielder Tommy Edman are scheduled to begin Minor League rehab assignments in the coming days, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said on Sunday prior to his team’s series finale against the Cubs. Both players were projected starters before the season, but they have missed significant time with injuries.

Contreras, who has been out since fracturing his left forearm on May 7, is expected to play for either Triple-A Memphis or Double-A Springfield by Tuesday, meaning he could potentially rejoin the Cardinals by the end of the week. Contreras, who received medical clearance to restart baseball activities last week when a CT scan showed significant healing in a forearm that was fortified with a titanium plate and several anchor screws, took full batting practice at Busch Stadium on Friday and Saturday. Contreras, who was scheduled to hit again today, recently vowed to return before July -- some four weeks ahead of original projections.

Edman, who had surgery to repair significant damage in his right wrist in October, will head to Palm Beach to get in work with the club’s Complex League squad and with the Single-A Palm Beach Cardinals, Marmol said. Being there, Marmol said, will allow Edman to get in more at bats during live batting practice sessions and more defensive reps with the team. Because he has yet to play a game this season, Edman’s rehab process is expected to be much lengthier and layered.

The Cardinals, who entered play on Sunday at 34-35, have been at .500 seven times this season. They have spent one day above .500, at 5-4 on April 6. The team has been without outfielder Lars Nootbaar, left-handed starter Steven Matz and relievers Keynan Middleton, Riley O’Brien and Giovanny Gallegos for long stretches. A big part of their inconsistency, Marmol said, is how hard injuries have hit the team.

“We’ve yet to play a game with our projected outfield that we were supposed to break camp with,” he said. “That matters.”

Contreras was injured when the swinging bat of Mets slugger J.D. Martinez hit his forearm while he was catching. He had surgery a day later where a plate was inserted, and doctors felt he wouldn’t play again until after the July 16 MLB All-Star Game. At the time of his injury, Contreras was the Cardinals' most productive player, smashing six home runs, hitting .280 and leading the team with a .949 OPS in 31 games.

Contreras said earlier this week that he doesn’t think he will need many Minor League games to get himself ready to rejoin the Cardinals.

“I’ve been on a rehab assignment before and I’ve never played more than three or four games, and it will just be a matter of timing,” Contreras said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s in the Minor Leagues or in the big leagues, it will just be about working to get my timing back, and I think it will come back quickly.”

Edman, a Gold Glove winner at second base in 2021, was a finalist for a Gold Glove as a utility player in '22 and '23. The 29-year-old missed three weeks last July with pain in his right wrist, and he went in for what he thought would be arthroscopic surgery in October. When that procedure was more extensive, it meant that his recovery time would need to be extended. He was shut down from baseball activities four times during Spring Training because of lingering pain and stiffness in the wrist.

The switch-hitting Edman has spent the past two weeks taking batting practice from both sides of the plate at Busch Stadium. The move to Palm Beach will allow him to get more “live” reps at the plate and in the field, Marmol said. The manager stressed that getting Edman back will help the Cardinals in a variety of ways.

“This is a guy you are counting on to play in center and hit from both sides,” Marmol said. “We’ve talked about needing another right-handed bat and that’s what he does really well. He adds a lot of versatility with how you can make out your lineup and the lanes it creates for when [opposing teams] bring in the lefty. So, yeah, he’s big for us.”

The Cardinals have used rookie Victor Scott II, Michael Siani, Dylan Carlson and Nootbaar in center field this season to try to replace Edman. Rookies Iván Herrera and Pedro Pagés have handled the catching duties with Contreras out injured.