Chicago Cubs catcher Willson Contreras got an MRI on his right hamstring today after coming up lame running out a grounder on Wednesday. And although the results won’t be revealed until tomorrow, the early reporting is good – well, relatively speaking.
According to ESPN, citing MLB sources, Contreras’s injury is not a “worst case scenario,” which presumably would mean a significant tear and a season-ending situation. When it comes to a hamstring injury in August, that’s always on the table. Instead, the report indicates a timetable of at least two weeks, but potentially up to a month or more.
I’ll still wait for the official word from the Cubs, but we said from the moment Contreras clutched at his hammy that if he were back in a month, that would be about as good as you could realistically hope for. Mild hamstring strains just take a long time to shake off, and to ensure they don’t recur soon after the player returns. So, with that in mind, for now, I’m not going to let myself get too optimistic about that “at least two weeks” part, and will instead assume it’s still going to be, at best, about a month.
But that would see Contreras return with about three weeks left in the regular season, and right now, I’d totally take that. We’ll see what the Cubs say tomorrow about the red-hot catcher who was slashing .311/.380/.700 with 10 home runs and 29 RBI in 90 plate appearances since the All-Star Break.