Efrain Contreras (minors03)

From BR Bullpen

Efrain Daniel Contreras Elzau

  • Bats Right, Throws Right
  • Height 6' 1", Weight 165 lb.

BR minors page

Biographical Information[edit]

Efrain Contreras spent seven seasons in the minor leagues, once leading his league in OPS.

Contreras was signed by Cincinnati Reds scout Felix Delgado. He hit .271/?/.316 for Cagua in the 2004 Venezuelan Summer League, his pro debut. The next year, he slumped to .238/.331/.320 for the VSL Reds. He improved to .287/.398/.451 in 2006, though, while playing error-free ball in the outfield. He tied for 10th in the Venezuelan League with five home runs and was 7th in OPS.

In 2007, he played for the VSL Devil Rays/Reds (.315/.414/.510, 11 HR, 54 R, 25 SB, 5 CS in 65 G) and the DSL Reds (.378/.440/.467 in 12 G). He was among the VSL leaders in average (10th), OBP (7th), slugging (1st by .006 over Jose Rivero), OPS (1st by 10 over Rivero), runs (tied for second with Cesar Fuentes), hits (76, tied for 4th with Fuentes), doubles (14, tied for 5th), homers (tied for second with Rivero) and steals (tied for 4th).

Coming stateside in 2008, he hit .271/.351/.395 with 30 RBI in 37 games for the GCL Reds and going 5 for 30 with a double, homer and walk for the Sarasota Reds. He produced at a .301/.395/.412 clip for the '09 Billings Mustangs, the top OPS by a starter on the last-place club. He was 0 for 7 with a run for the Caribes de Anzoategui in the 2009-2010 Venezuelan Winter League, his lone appearance there through the 2014-2015 winter.

In the summer of 2010, Efrain hit only .203/.253/.215 in 24 games for the Dayton Dragons and .199/.270/.316 in 62 contests for the Lynchburg Hillcats to end his time in the Reds chain. By 2014-2015, Contreras was with the Tigres de Cartagena in the Colombian League, going 8 for 19. He was with the Colombian national team when they won the 2015 South American Championship, homering twice against Brazil in a 6-4 win in the Gold Medal game, earning himself MVP honors and his team a trip to the 2015 Pan American Games, their first Pan American Games in baseball in 32 years.

In the 2015 Pan Am Games themselves, he was 2 for 12 with a walk, run and five strikeouts, backing up Steve Brown in CF and Tito Polo in LF. He helped Colombia to a Bronze in the 2016 South American Championship; after a .238/.292/.381 batting line in the round-robin (albeit with five runs in five games), he turned it up in the playoffs. In the semifinals, he went 2 for 5 with three RBI and a 9th-inning homer off Federico Tanco as Colombia tied it late only to fall in extra innings to Argentina. He was 2 for 4 with another run and RBI and a double in the Bronze Medal game win over Peru. He played in all three games for Colombia in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, their first World Baseball Classic, but got only one at-bat. He struck out against Enny Romero of the Dominican Republic.

Contreras was only 1 for 15 in the 2017 Bolivarian Games but drew five walks in five games to tie for second in the event, one behind Sneider Batista. Batista drove him in during the 4th inning with the go-ahead run thatr put Colombia ahead for good in the Gold Medal game against defending champion Panama; he had walked against Andy Otero.

Sources[edit]

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