Brewers Ask a Lot of Contreras

×

Expand

Photo: William Contreras - Instagram

William Contreras

William Contreras

The fans who followed the Brewers to Texas over the weekend got to see something that hasn’t happened often recently: Craig Counsell submitted a lineup without William Contreras’ name on it. 

Before Sunday’s game Contreras had appeared in each of the Brewers’ last 25 games, a streak stretching back to before the All Star break. He’s been one of the team’s most reliable hitters all season and that’s remained true recently, as he’s batted .299 with a .340 on-base and .463 slugging over that 25-game span without a day off. He was the Brewers’ catcher in 15 of those 25 games, serving as the designated hitter in the other ten. He might be the team’s most productive right-handed hitter and Craig Counsell has used him accordingly: Contreras has batted in one of the top three spots in the lineup in 75 of his first 104 games as a Brewer.

Even while he routinely serves as the Brewers’ DH, Contreras is racking up appearances behind the plate. He’s on pace to log 107 games as a catcher this season, which is a heavy workload. Across the last three full MLB seasons (2019, 2021 and 2022) there have only been 30 instances where a catcher logged at least as many games behind the plate as Contreras is on pace to this season, and it would make sense that a long season would take a toll on their production down the stretch. By the time a highly used catcher reaches the end of the year they’ve spent more than 100 games squatting, getting hit by foul balls and wearing catching gear in hot temperatures. One of those 30 instances was another Brewer: Omar Narvaez caught in 111 games for the 2021 Brewers and his performance waned down the stretch: His hot start earned him an All Star berth but in his final 78 games he batted .234 with a .303 on-base and .341 slugging.

Textbook Example

Brewers fans may also recognize this trend because a recent longtime Brewer is a textbook example of it. Jonathan Lucroy was a successful big leaguer for a long time but across the years his best month was May, when he had an .863 on-base plus slugging in 195 games. Meanwhile, the second-worst month of his career was September/October, when he appeared in 221 games with a .708 OPS. Lucroy had six seasons in his career where he appeared in 110 or more games behind the plate.

With that said, Contreras was able to defy this trend last season. He played a lot down the stretch for the 2022 Braves and had very good offensive months in the later portion of the year, posting a .819 OPS in August and an .850 mark in September/October. Between AAA and the majors last season he logged just 68 games at catcher last season, a mark he’s already far surpassed in 2023.

It’s hard to tell if this is a trend or just random chance, but it’s also worth noting that a lot of catchers are seeing a lot of action this season. Entering play on Sunday 17 teams had a player that had already caught 80 games this season, putting them at or above Contreras’ pace for the season. Over the last three full seasons only about a third of teams have had a catcher work behind the plate 107 or more times, but this year more than half of them might do it. It’s possible that teams are reaping the benefits of a new generation of catchers: 12 of those 17 catchers are 28 years of age or younger and only one (former Brewer and longtime Astro) Martin Maldonado is older than 32.

Perhaps Contreras’ young legs can continue to carry this workload without issue, but if his fatigue follows him to the plate it could be a real issue for a Brewers team that already struggles to score at times. He’s emerged as one of their most reliable right-handed hitters, but the Brewers need him to stay on that level while enduring the most grueling schedule of his professional career.