What happened to Willson Contreras? Catcher's Cardinals debut cut short in freak incident

Willson Contreras' St. Louis Cardinals debut was cut short by an errant pitch during the Opening Day game against the Toronto Blue Jays. The game ended in defeat for the Cardinals, with the final scoreline reading 10-9.

The Cardinals' new signing sustained this injury when a 102 mph sinker by reliever Jordan Hicks hit his right knee in the top of the eighth inning.

The St. Louis Cardinals Twitter page later shared an update stating that the catcher had sustained a right knee contusion.

While there is no clarity on how serious Contreras' injury is, it remains a huge blow for the Cardinals to lose their marquee signing to injury in only his first game for the organization.

Willson Contreras injury the salt on Cardinals' Opening day wounds

Alejandro Kirk #30 of the Toronto Blue Jays hits a two-run single against the St. Louis Cardinals in the first inning on Opening Day at Busch Stadium on March 30, 2023 in St Louis, Missouri.

The game ended 10-9 in favor of the Toronto-based outfit, with the Blue Jays finally breaking the deadlock in the ninth inning via a Vlad Guerrero Jr. go-ahead sacrifice fly.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider stood vindicated in his declaration that it was time to transition from just a talented team to a talented team with the mentality to claw out close wins. This win will surely give Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Co. a huge boost as their MLB campaign got off to a perfect start.