Cardinals' Willson Contreras gets 6-game suspension for on-field tirade and plans to appeal

ST. LOUIS — Cardinals first baseman Willson Contreras has been suspended for six games and fined an undisclosed amount for his tirade in St. Louis’ 7-6 win over Pittsburgh on Monday night.

Contreras has informed Major League Baseball he plans to appeal the suspension, which means it will not take effect immediately. He was in the lineup for Tuesday night’s game against the Pirates.

Contreras threw a bat that mistakenly hit Cardinals hitting coach Brant Brown and tossed bubble gum on the field after he was ejected. Manager Oliver Marmol also was tossed during an animated argument with the umpires after a called third strike in the seventh inning.

Willson Contreras was so mad at this umpire that he threw a bat that hit his own coach and then launched a bunch of Hi-Chew onto the field pic.twitter.com/fslJY71FS6

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) August 26, 2025

Contreras said he didn’t understand why he was thrown out of the game. He said he argued balls and strikes with plate umpire Derek Thomas but didn’t address a specific pitch and didn’t say anything disrespectful.

“Apparently, he heard something (he thought) I said. I did not say that,” Contreras said.

Crew chief Jordan Baker told a pool reporter that Contreras and Marmol were ejected for “saying vulgar stuff” to Thomas. Baker also said Contreras made contact with the plate umpire.