Cardinals first baseman Willson Contreras, left, celebrates with left fielder Brendan Donovan after defeating the Mets in the first game of a doubleheader Sunday, May 4, 2025, in 51黑料.
Ballplayers come in different sizes with their own individual abilities and from a variety of backgrounds. They also have their own personalities and different ways they approach the game on a day-to-day basis.
The fact that there鈥檚 no cookie cutter profile that neatly encompasses everyone remains one of the great, interesting and fun things about baseball. We鈥檙e remined of that every time the Cardinals take the field with Willson Contreras and Brendan Donovan in their lineup.
For much of this season, they鈥檝e played side by side in the field with Contreras at first base and Donovan at second base. They also batted back-to-back for a large chunk of the season. Until recently, Donovan primarily occupied the No. 3 hole in the batting order and Contreras most frequently slotted in at either No. 2 or No. 4.
Donovan, 28, entered Saturday ranked third in the National League with a .313 batting average and leading the NL in line drive percentage (32.4%). He also ranked among league leaders in hits (83, sixth), doubles (21, tied for third) and three-hit games (11, tied for first).
Contreras, 33, entered the day leading the Cardinals in home runs (10), RBIs (50) and extra-base hits (26). He sat just two RBIs shy of his season total in 2019. He鈥檚 on pace for career highs in runs, hits, doubles, stolen bases and RBIs.
In many ways they鈥檙e like fire and ice, at least on the surface. Donovan typically gives off a calm, calculating, stoic and under control vibe as if a chess player in a baseball uniform.
Contreras plays with hair on fire, demonstrative, loud and emotions constantly on his sleeve. If you didn鈥檛 know any better, you might take him for a maniac.
The more you watch the duo, the more it hits you that there鈥檚 a yin and yang to the styles they bring to the ballpark.
Funny enough, Donovan told me at the start of this season that he hoped to lean into his emotions more this season even though it鈥檚 not something that comes natural to him on the field.
鈥淚 try to be the same person every day,鈥 Donovan said at the start of this season. 鈥淥bviously, the game is extremely hard, but the hardest part about the game is showing up and being the same person every day. So it鈥檚 something I do make an effort to do.
鈥淚 mean, I鈥檓 human though. We all succumb to emotions. But it is something that I do work towards. I try to focus on a consistent routine, positive self-talk, but there are times I feel like when I want to kick myself in the butt and show some more emotion.鈥
Contreras requires no kick. Cardinals fans have seen Contreras moved to tears on the field multiple times in a little more than two seasons with the club.
Whether Adam Wainwright鈥檚 200th career win triggered the waterworks or a two-homer game at Busch Stadium in front of Contreras鈥 parents visiting from Venezuela in 2023 or Contreras letting his feelings about the political climate in his home country bubble over into tears on the eve of elections in 2024, he鈥檚 let it all hang out.
This season, Contreras moved from catcher to first base and it hasn鈥檛 changed the fire he plays with one bit.
鈥淚 think that doesn鈥檛 go away,鈥 Contreras said earlier this spring. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 in my blood. That鈥檚 already the way I play. It鈥檚 not like it鈥檚 going to disappear from one year to another. I think it鈥檚 just part of the game.鈥
Asked about the reason emotions play such a big part in his game, Contreras told me, 鈥淚 think just knowing where I come from, what I needed to do to get to the big leagues 鈥 what I went through 鈥 I think that鈥檚 the best way to put it. Whenever I play, I feel like, in my mind, I own my position. I own my at-bats. That鈥檚 the way I think.鈥
Contreras is still the guy that shows more flare than anyone in the majors when he draws a walk, flipping his bat toward the dugout more emphatically than most players do after a home run.
He鈥檚 still the guy that might eviscerate a helmet, a bat rack or a cooler after a strikeout or particularly bad stretch at the plate. He鈥檚 still the guy that feeds off the negativity he gets on the road from opposing fan bases like this past week against the Chicago White Sox.
He鈥檚 not apologetic about leaning into emotions.
鈥淵ou have to have a guy that brings the energy and that it鈥檚 contagious,鈥 Contreras said. 鈥淓very team is different, but if you look around the exciting teams, the teams that have won lately, they have exciting players and they play with emotion. So I think it鈥檚 good to have it.鈥
Donovan, who grew up in a miliary family in Alabama, is as likely to have the same look on his face after he laced double as after a lineout.
That鈥檚 simply his way.
鈥淚 think I鈥檓 just a serious person,鈥 Donovan said. 鈥淚t could be the military background in me. That might have something to do with it. Sometimes showing emotion could be seen as 鈥 not showing someone up, but I don鈥檛 know, it鈥檚 like good you did your job. You鈥檙e supposed to do that.鈥
Donovan, now in his fourth major-league season, traces that outlook back to his collegiate career at South Alabama. When he stepped up to that level and experienced real adversity, that made him realize that having a tendency to 鈥渓ive and die鈥 with every at-bat might not be the wisest path.
Since then, Donovan has leaned into consistency.
鈥淚t鈥檚 easier said than done, but on a daily basis I try to focus on my preparation, my mentality and my effort,鈥 Donovan said. 鈥淭hose are three things I feel like I can control in this game because it鈥檚 so wild.鈥
Former Cardinals star Paul Goldschmidt鈥檚 knack for meeting triumph and failure the same every day, and Donovan watched and emulated a lot of what Goldy did.
鈥淵our support group,鈥 Donovan added. 鈥淭hose people around you, my wife and my family, are truly amazing and they鈥檙e nothing but positive and supportive. So I think that has something to do with it also.鈥
Neither Conteras or Donovan necessarily plays the right way or the wrong way. They both have played while beat up and injured. There鈥檚 a shared level of aggressiveness, perhaps risk-taking, on the bases they both exhibit.
They鈥檙e just two different birds perched on the same bat.
