'I think he's ready to stay here': Contreras sings McGreevy's praises

DENVER -- Not long after crushing a Statcast-measured 443-foot home run and crafting a three-hit night to sling-shot the Cardinals out of a three-game spiral, fiery first baseman Willson Contreras kept firing late Monday night with some strong opinions he has about the ballclub.

Yes, he thinks rookie right-hander Michael McGreevy deserves a full-time spot in the Cardinals' starting staff after he limited the Rockies to seven hits and two earned runs over seven innings in the Cardinals’ 6-2 win in Colorado.

And, no, Contreras said he doesn’t care about the looming MLB Trade Deadline, one where the Cardinals could potentially sell off several of their key parts and virtually end their chase at making the playoffs for the first time since 2022. Contreras has been outspoken in the Cards' clubhouse about the team keeping its focus on that day’s opponent and not worrying about what could happen between now and the July 31 Trade Deadline.

“I’m not looking at the Trade Deadline, and I’m just focused on getting the team to focus on the small details, and whatever [president of baseball operations John Mozeliak] is going to do, he’s going to do,” Contreras said. “That [trade talk] is super noise. If he’s going to sell, he’s going to sell, and if he’s going to acquire, he’s going to acquire. The only thing we control is what we do in here inside [the clubhouse], going about our business on and off the field and the way we play the game.”

Contreras took care of his business on Monday night, drilling Austin Gomber’s first pitch of the fourth inning for the 443-foot home run to jump-start the Cardinals’ rally from an early 2-0 deficit. Then, in the fifth inning, Contreras delivered a two-out, line-drive single to score All-Star second baseman Brendan Donovan to give St. Louis its first lead of the night at 3-2. In all, Contreras had three hits -- none of them more impactful than the towering homer that ignited a Cardinals club coming off an unsightly sweep at the hands of the D-backs over the weekend.

“You’re coming off that weekend that didn’t feel very good, and then you’re down two, so to be able to punch back immediately was important to do it with the strong homer,” manager Oliver Marmol said, referring to Contreras’ 13th home run of the season. “Guys did a nice job of battling, and our attention to detail was there.”

McGreevy’s attention to detail was on point after he gave up some soft-contact singles and surrendered two early runs. After the somewhat shaky start, he was able to use his heavy sinker, along with his other pitches, to keep the ball out of the air at Coors Field and retire 11 straight Rockies hitters from the bottom of the third inning to the first out of the bottom of the seventh. McGreevy struck out just one, but he got nine groundouts.

Marmol said before the game that the outing wouldn’t be a spot start for the 25-year-old McGreevy, who has been promoted five times this season to either make spot starts or provide relief during doubleheader setups. Though he is being told he will likely stick with the Cardinals the rest of this season -- as the team looks to lighten the workload for Matthew Liberatore and Andre Pallante and struggling starter Erick Fedde could be dealt before the Trade Deadline -- McGreevy isn’t ready to drop his guard just yet.

“No, being completely honest, and whatever happens, happens,” McGreevy said of potentially getting to stick with the big league club. “I understand how this business works. I’ll always be stoked beyond my mind to pitch in the big leagues. But if I get to stay for the rest of the year [with the Cardinals], then great, and if I go down [to Triple-A] tomorrow, then oh well. … You just have to smile through it all.”

Contreras was not just smiling when the postgame topic turned to McGreevy; he admitted to the hairs standing up on his arms because of the composure the right-hander has shown while being put in some challenging spots the past two seasons. His MLB debut in 2024 came against the defending-champion Rangers, and his first MLB start of 2025 came against the reigning-champion Dodgers. He also had to face the hard-hitting Cubs this season before being tasked with pitching at homer-happy Coors Field on Monday.

Just like before, McGreevy passed those tests, Contreras emphasized.

“I think he’s ready to stay here, straight up,” Contreras said of McGreevy. “I think you don’t need to go down -- that’s my take. And I’m going to say that he’s ready. He’s already shown a couple of times that every time he comes here, he’s coming to pitch.”