St. Louis Cardinals fans tear into Willson Contreras, label him poster boy for team’s struggles: "It’s all that scumbag Willson Contreras’ fault" 

An awful April got even worse for the St. Louis Cardinals after they were blanked 5-0 by the Pittsburgh Pirates on their return to Busch Stadium Thursday night.

While the Cardinals are no longer the worst team in the National League, thanks to a pair of victories in Colorado this week, St. Louis still sits at the foot of the NL Central with a 5-8 record after being shutout at home.

St. Louis starting pitcher Mike Montgomery turned in a quality start but got no help from his offense. He pitched 6-1/3 innings, scattering two earned runs and six hits with five strikeouts, but was hung with the loss nonetheless.

As the St. Louis Cardinals offense continues to struggle, one player is finding himself in the crosshairs of the fanbase's angst. Catcher Willson Contreras, an offensive-minded backstop that the team plucked from the rival Chicago Cubs this past winter to be the heir to the beloved Yadier Molina, has not lived up to the billing.

Contreras is hitting just .171 and has no home runs through 12 games in St. Louis. In seven seasons with the Cubs, he was a .255 hitter who often tallied at least 20 homers in a season.

While the Pirates' fifth and final run of the game was officially scored on a wild pitch by reliever Chris Stratton, many Cardinals fans believed it was actually a passed ball on Contreras.

The Cardinals, picked by many to win the National League Central, were dead last in the division two weeks into the season, leaving fans frustrated.

The St. Louis Cardinals were expected by many to claim the division title this season and possibly make a postseason push. Those expectations feel far off after St. Louis' first 13 games.

Needless to say, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol is on thin ice. According to multiple reports, the team is less than pleased with Marmol's penchant for airing his grievances about specific players in the press rather than keeping them in-house.

Not the start to the season that Willson Contreras and the St. Louis Cardinals fans had in mind

Willson Contreras #40 of the Chicago Cubs greets Yadier Molina #4 of the St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis is traditionally one of the more successful teams in the MLB. The team had a .521 winning percentage in 142 seasons. The Cardinals made 32 playoff appearances in that time, winning 23 National League pennants and 11 World Series titles.

The St. Louis Cardinals have only finished last in their division once — 1990 — since divisional play began in 1969. Cardinal Nation is beginning to worry that it might happen again in 2023.