William Contreras finished fifth in National League MVP voting last season. No catcher in the league got more votes.
The 27-year-old is the Brewers’ best everyday hitter, and with Willy Adames gone to San Francisco, he matters more than ever.
The Braves years
The Atlanta Braves signed Contreras out of Venezuela in February 2015, when he was 17. He made his major league debut July 24, 2020, and went 4-for-10 in four games that season.
He played 52 games for Atlanta’s 2021 World Series champions, then broke out in 2022. In 97 games, he hit .278 with 20 home runs and an .860 OPS and made his first All-Star team.
That December, the Braves traded for Oakland catcher Sean Murphy in a three-team deal, and Contreras went to Milwaukee.
The Milwaukee years
He hit .289 with 17 homers and 78 RBIs in 141 games in his first season with the Brewers and won a Silver Slugger.
He was even better in 2024. Contreras hit .281 with a .365 on-base percentage, 23 home runs, 37 doubles and 92 RBIs in 155 games. He came to the plate 679 times, a heavy load for a catcher.
The awards followed. He won his second straight Silver Slugger, started for the NL in the All-Star Game in Arlington, Texas, was named to the All-MLB First Team and was named team MVP by the local chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America for the second year in a row.
In the MVP voting, he got 132 points, two behind Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna for fourth. Shohei Ohtani won unanimously.
The family
His older brother, Willson, caught for the Cubs and now plays for the Cardinals. St. Louis moved him to first base for 2025.
The contract
Contreras and the Brewers avoided arbitration Jan. 31 with a one-year deal that guarantees $6.1 million. He’ll make $6 million this season. The club holds a $12 million option for 2026 with a $100,000 buyout.
He’d asked for $6.5 million and the team offered $5.6 million. It was his first year of arbitration. He’s under club control through 2027.
What’s next
Milwaukee opens March 27 at Yankee Stadium. Christian Yelich is coming back from back surgery and Jackson Chourio is coming off a 21-homer rookie season, but no one in the lineup did more last year than the man behind the plate.
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