Contreras not in lineup, but doing OK after catching fastball with wrist
Catcher Willson Contreras was not in the starting lineup on Tuesday in Pittsburgh, but he seemed to be doing OK after taking a 98-mile-per hour fastball from Craig Kimbrel to the left wrist on Sunday in St. Louis.
Contreras seemed to be expecting some sort of breaking ball, but it stayed straight and caught him on the wrist of his glove hand in the 10th inning. Contreras was clearly in great pain, but he stayed in the game and everything checked out.
"Willson's doing all right," manager David Ross said before the game. "I think he's about to take some swings in the cage. Woke up this morning feeling much better, got looked at yesterday, X-rays were negative. Just right now, it's a contusion and hopefully swings go well, but I think everybody's encouraged with where he's at."
P.J. Higgins started at catcher on Tuesday and he appeared to get his signals crossed with pitcher Jake Arrieta. The didn't catch an outside pitch, it was ruled a passed ball and allowed a run to score in the first inning.
Ross talked about how valuable it is to have a regular catcher of Contreras' quality.
"Willson means a lot to this team," Ross said. "I think the every day catcher on most teams is a vital piece that interacts, not only with the pitchers, but the opposing hitters and (knows) where their holes might be and how they've taken advantage of (Cubs pitchers).
"This feels like our hundredth time playing the Pirates, but you have a guy back there that has navigated through the lineup, seem what they've hit, seen the mistakes, where you want to go. There's just so much feel involved, as well as the scouting report, that you miss when your starting guy's out."
Twitter: @McGrawDHBulls