Heading into this weekend’s series, Contreras was batting .102 with five hits and 22 strikeouts in his first 54 plate appearances. He had been working with Cardinals’ hitting coach Brant Brown to curtail “overthinking,” but also decided to try and use his torpedo bat after hitting in the cage with it for the first time during the week. He had four hits over the weekend, including a 110 mph double, a 97 mph home run, and a lineout at 103.9 mph. He had two of the five hardest-hit pitches in Sunday’s game, and three of his swings that led to hard contact were 75 mph or greater. Whether it’s the bat or just Contreras getting his confidence back, we may be seeing the veteran turn a corner.

The Cardinals dropped Contreras to the sixth spot in the lineup today as a consequence of his early slump. There never seemed to be anything to worry about here, and he’s clearly a top-three fantasy catcher while playing first base and DHing.

He won’t get to face longtime Cubs batterymate Kyle Hendricks. After an exceptional spring (.405/.511/.649 in 45 PA), Contreras has opened the regular season 0-for-18 with eight strikeouts. Taking him out of the lineup makes room for Nolan Gorman, who is DHing while Alec Burleson plays first base.