Cubs are Thriving Without Willson Contreras
I’m not going to sit here and pretend that I thought the Chicago Cubs were going to be completely fine without Willson Contreras and at this point of the season, they’re a lot better without him. However, as much as I loved Contreras’ time with the Cubs, this sudden shift behind the plate and the resulting success should not be a big surprise.
That being said, no, I did not think Yan Gomes was ever going to have as great of a stretch as he’s been having to start the 2023 season at any point this year. The veteran catcher recorded his fifth career, four-hit game on Tuesday night, helping the Cubs beat the San Diego Padres 6-0. He also was behind the plate for the team’s fifth shutout of the year.
The Cubs improved to 13-9 and the five shutouts tied a franchise record for most through the first 22 games of a season. The last time a Cubs pitching staff accomplished that feat was in 1969.
More on the pitching staff later.
Gomes hit his fifth home run on Tuesday, taking Blake Snell deep to left-center field. Last year, Gomes hit 8 home runs in close to 300 plate appearances. His two-run shot at Wrigley on Tuesday came in his 54th plate appearance of the season.
Before Nico Hoerner extended his on-base streak with a three-run triple, Gomes came through with a clutch, RBI-single to right field that gave the Cubs a 3-0 lead in the eighth inning.
The run-scoring hit capped off Gomes’ perfect night on offense.
After going 4-for-4, Gomes is now slashing .309/.316/.582, with a 138 wRC+. He certainly is capable of maintaining a solid slash line throughout the season because Gomes does have a handful of good offensive years, it just hasn’t happened in a while.
Now, Gomes isn’t going to be posting a near .600 slugging percentage all year and the Cubs are going to gladly take whatever offense he provides because his biggest value to this team is how he handles the pitching staff.
Gomes has started 13 of the team’s 22 games at catcher so far in 2023 and pitchers have a 2.87 ERA throwing to him. Overall, Gomes and Tucker Barnhart have helped guide the Cubs to one of the best pitching staffs in the National League. And that right there is how the Cubs really are thriving without Contreras behind the plate.
Heading into Tuesday’s action, the St. Louis Cardinals had one of their worst ERAs going back to 2007.
And then they blew a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning, as the San Francisco Giants hit a walk-off, two-run home run when they were down to their last strike.
So far, Cardinals pitchers have a 4.59 ERA throwing to Contreras this year in 21 games.
The Cardinals are 9-15, which marks their worst start to a season through 24 games in five decades.
I mean yeah, it is early, but we’re seeing more evidence to support why the Cubs had no issue letting Willson Contreras go.