ST. LOUIS -- Catcher-turned-first baseman Willson Contreras has already made a successful transition to a new position this season, and he has no aspirations of landing another job any time soon. Still, the Cardinals mainstay felt the need to speak up when he saw Jose Barrero’s bat lagging through the strike zone Sunday night.
“We talked last night about him loading earlier, and tonight we saw the damage he can do when he loads earlier,” said Contreras, who hit a go-ahead home run in a four-run sixth inning and saw his protege also homer, double and drive in three runs in the Cardinals' 6-3 defeat of the Pirates. “I like to talk about hitting and I like to speak up when I see something. But, no, I’m not stepping into [Cardinals hitting coach] Brant Brown’s shoes. I don’t like to step on anybody’s toes. But you can tell when a hitter is late or too early and I just told him, ‘Load earlier and you’ll be fine.’”
Contreras, who came into the night slashing .355/.452/.532 with three homers and 10 RBIs during a 17-game on-base streak, might have a future as a hitting coach considering how he helped Barrero, who homered for the first time since May 30, 2023 -- when he was still thought to be a future star with the Reds. When he struggled to hit big league pitching, he found himself out of the big leagues and left wondering if he would ever make it back to baseball’s grandest stage.
“I slept great knowing that I was going to play today,” said Barrero, who found out on Sunday night that he would be starting at shortstop on Monday after Masyn Winn sprained his left ankle. “It felt amazing to play like this.”
The Cardinals have long been intrigued by the intoxicating talents from the 6-foot-4, 211-pound Barrero, someone who could seemingly double as an NBA small forward or an NFL tight end in the right lighting. His power was on display with his 385-foot homer in the third inning to score the Cardinals' first run of the night. The raw athleticism that seemingly oozes from his pores was on full display when he made a diving stop on a ball hit back up the middle in the second inning, hopping to his feet and firing an 84.7-mph throw to first to retire Pittsburgh’s Jared Triolo.
“You take one look at him and he passes the eye test right away,” said Cardinals starting pitcher Miles Mikolas, who benefited from Barrero’s offensive and defensive work on Monday. “The guy’s built like an athlete and he’s super athletic when you watch him do his work day in and day out. You saw the power at the plate today. He’s definitely something special to watch.”
Four batters after Contreras drilled a Statcast-measured 111.4 mph home run to slingshot the Cardinals into the lead, Barrero drilled a 101.8 mph double into the left-field corner. That two-run knock gave some much-needed breathing room and it certainly would have plated speedster Victor Scott II had the ball not caromed over the wall for a ground-rule double.
Contreras said he was more impressed with Barrero’s three-RBI night than anything he did himself while pushing his on-base streak to an impressive 18 games.
“Barrero has all the tools that are required to be in the big leagues,” Contreras said. “He has the talent, and he has everything that we need. He also has the energy and I’m glad that we have him here because we feed off his energy and he’s a good guy to have around.”
Added Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol: “We’re going to exhaust every option as far as getting him to that [solid hitting] point because he’s tooled-out. He does a lot of things well and he can play all over the field. The offense is what has held him back a little bit, but we’re going to attack that as hard as possible.”
Barrero said he doesn’t remember much from his last big league home run -- only that it was a big night offensively for him. Indeed, he went 2-for-2 with a home run and four RBIs for the Reds at Boston’s Fenway Park on May 30, 2023. He does know that the night from two years ago stoked his emotions in the same way as Monday, when his two big hits and spectacular defense elicited roars from the crowd at Busch Stadium.
“It was unbelievable; it was my first home run here, so it felt amazing,” Barrero said in clear English while eschewing the services of the Spanish interpreter at his side if needed. “[My emotions] helped me a lot [on Monday]. Every game that I’m going to play, my energy and my passion are going to be there.”