Willson Contreras Is “Day to Day” with an Undisclosed Issue

When the Cubs lineup against the White Sox was announced earlier this afternoon, I immediately pointed out the distinct absence of Willson Contreras. After all, Contreras didn’t play yesterday (off-day) or Sunday (presumably a normal day off), and he didn’t catch on Saturday (DH) either. Even for a guy the Cubs have tried to keep healthy and especially well-rested, this was atypical deployment.

Alas, there is an injury keeping him out of the lineup, we just don’t know what it is.

Ross: Willson Contreras is “day to day” with an undisclosed issue. Said the catcher is available, but that’s why he is out of lineup. Would not get into specifics of the ailment for “competitive” reasons.

— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) May 3, 2022

I don’t know why the injury is undisclosed at the moment, but we can probably take some solace in the fact that he’s both day-to-day and evidently available off the bench. Combined with the availability of a strong back up like Yan Gomes and the extra value gained by keeping Contreras as fresh and healthy as possible, we probably don’t need to worry too much.

I’d rather not speculate about the Cubs being EXTRA cautious ONLY for the sake of preserving his trade value at the deadline (Contreras is on an expiring contract and the Cubs seem to be barreling towards another sell-off), but I suppose it’s not something to completely ignore. Either way, a healthy and rested Contreras is a Good Contreras, and a Good Contreras has more value to the Cubs no matter how that value is deployed. In other words, being extra cautious with this particular player – even if you have some serious long-term plans – probably always makes sense.

Depending on what’s actually going on behind the scenes, I wouldn’t be surprised if Contreras also sits out tomorrow. With an off-day on Thursday, that would give him a nice long rest before getting back out there and behind the plate.