Photo via William Contreras - Instagram
William Contreras in catcher gear
William Contreras
The All-MLB team is a relatively new honor, handed out for the first time in 2019, but even if it had existed for longer, it’s possible Contreras would still have been the first Brewers catcher ever to get it. This season was only the second time ever a Brewer has led all MLB catchers in Baseball Reference’s version of Wins Above Replacement, with Jonathan Lucroy posting the other such season in 2014.
For much of Brewers’ history the catching position has been a revolving door of mediocre performances: From B.J. Surhoff’s final game as a Brewer in 1995 through Jonathan Lucroy’s first in 2010 the Crew had 12 different catchers behind the plate for 100 games in a span of 15 seasons.
In fact, after just two seasons in Milwaukee Baseball Reference already grades Contreras as the sixth best catcher in Brewers franchise history with 8.6 Wins Above Replacement. Here are the five players ahead of him, including three he could realistically catch in the first half of 2025:
Jonathan Lucroy, 17.3 WAR
Lucroy is only second on the Brewers’ all-time list in games caught with 725 but in terms of quality he nearly lapped the field. Over parts of seven seasons in Milwaukee Lucroy was a solid hitter with a career .284 batting average, .342 on-base and .436 slugging and set a Brewers franchise record with 53 doubles in 2014, but he was more often praised for his work defensively. Lucroy was solid in the traditional elements of catcher defense (blocking pitches, throwing out baserunners) but was also one of the early standouts in pitch framing, receiving the ball in such a way that it was more likely to be called a strike. Baseball Prospectus estimates that in 2011 alone Lucroy’s pitch receiving saved over 40 runs. That’s not factored into Baseball Reference’s assessment of Lucroy, but even without that element he’s the best Brewers catcher ever by a wide margin.
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B.J. Surhoff, 15.4 WAR
The #1 overall pick in the 1985 MLB Draft, Surhoff spent the first nine of his 19 MLB seasons in Milwaukee and spent most of the first six of those behind the plate. The Brewers rode him heavily as a young backstop, letting him catch an average of 112 games per season in his age 22-27 years. Surhoff’s best offensive seasons largely came after he had been moved out from behind the plate: He hit .320 with a .378 on-base and .492 slugging in 1995, when he caught just 18 times and played much more often in the outfield and at first base. Even if only counting seasons where Surhoff’s primary position was catcher, however, he still gets credit for 9.9 WAR and a spot in the top five.
Darrell Porter, 11.1 WAR
While Surhoff may have made it to the majors quickly after being drafted in 1985, Darrell Porter played his entire Milwaukee career before his 25th birthday. The #4 overall pick in the 1970 draft, the Brewers brought Porter to the majors for the first time in September of 1971 when he was just 19 years old. Porter was a full-time catcher for the Brewers by 1973, when he received votes for American League Rookie of the Year, and an All Star in 1974, and for the three-year span from 1973-75 he was one of the best catchers in baseball at any age. The Brewers traded him to the Royals following a down year in 1976, however, where he made three more All Star appearances before moving to Saint Louis and winning a World Series with the Cardinals in 1982.
Dave Nilsson, 10.6 WAR
He’s since been followed by dozens of others, but it’s possible the best MLB player ever to come from Australia was also one of the first: The Brewers signed the Brisbane native as an 18-year-old in 1987 and he spent eight seasons playing in the majors in Milwaukee. Along the way he became part of the majors’ first all-Aussie battery (joined by pitcher Graeme Lloyd) and the first Australian ever to play in an MLB All Star Game. Like Surhoff, many of Nilsson’s biggest offensive seasons came in years where he was not a primary catcher, but he was a .284 career hitter with a .356 on-base and .461 slugging across parts of eight MLB seasons and caught the seventh most games in Brewer’ franchise history.
Charlie Moore, 10.5 WAR
He was only sometimes the focal point of the highlight, but many of the greatest moments in Brewers’ franchise history included Charlie Moore. He reached the majors as a 20-year-old in 1973 just two years after being drafted and stuck in Milwaukee for parts of the next 14 seasons, setting a franchise record by catching 850 games (Lucroy and Surhoff are the only others with more than 500). His best offensive season came in 1979 for one of the first great Brewers teams, but he also played in all 12 games for the Brewers in the 1982 postseason and went 15-for-39, batting .385 and scoring six runs.
