William Contreras

William Jesus Contreras

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 180 lb.

• Debut July 24, 2020

• Born December 24, 1997 in Puerto Cabello, Carabobo Venezuela

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Biographical Information

Catcher William Contreras is the brother of Willson Contreras, who is also a catcher. He made his debut at the start of the 2020 season when both of the regular catchers for the Atlanta Braves, Travis d'Arnaud and Tyler Flowers, were unavailable due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He did very well in spite of his lack of high-level professional experience - he had only played 60 games above Class A - going 4 for 10 with a double in his 4 games.

He saw more action in 2021, as once again injuries allowed him to play more often for the Braves than would otherwise have been the case: the Braves lost both of their catchers - d'Arnaud and Alex Jackson - to injury in the same game on May 1st, leading to his call-up and regular playing time alongside Kevan Smith for a spell. He appeared in 52 games and batted .215 with 8 homers and 23 RBIs. He returned to AAA after d'Arnaud returned and the Braves acquired veteran Stephen Vogt to be his main back-up, and he played 44 games for the Gwinnett Stripers, batting .290 with 9 homers and 29 RBIs. He was back with the Braves in time to be placed on the postseason roster, but only played in one game, getting one at-bat in the Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers as the Braves went on to win a World Series title. In 2022, he was back with Gwinnett at the start of the season but was called up on April 28th when back-up catcher Manny Pina went on the injured list. The Braves were playing the Chicago Cubs that day, making it the first time he would face his brother Willson in a major league game. In a nice gesture to mark the occasion, both teams delegated a catching Contreras brother to exchange the lineup cards before the game. William went 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts in what was his first game of the year. He was a finalist for the voting for the 2022 All-Star Game, going up against Bryce Harper for the starting DH position. While he lost that vote, Harper had to bow out of the game due to an injury, making William the starter, thus joining his brother Willson, who was elected as the starting catcher on the National League squad. He ended the season at .278 in 97 games with 20 homers and 45 RBIs, for an OPS+ of 138. In the Division Series, which the Braves lost to the Philadelphia Phillies he went for 1 for 8 with his only hit a double.

Following the 2022 season, the Braves decided to make a change at catcher, as both William and starter Travis d'Arnaud had the same profile: well-above average hitters (for catchers) but with sub-par defensive play. On December 12th, they swung a complicated three-team trade to obtain the more complete Sean Murphy from the Oakland Athletics, but in order to do so they needed to trade Contreras to the Milwaukee Brewers to obtain one prospect in which the A's were interested (Esteury Ruiz).

Notable Achievements

• 2-time NL All-Star (2022 & 2024)
• 2-time NL Silver Slugger Award Winner (2023 & 2024)
• 20-Home Run Seasons: 2 (2022 & 2024)

Further Reading

• Mark Bowman: "Backstop swap: Murphy to ATL, Contreras to Crew in 3-way deal", mb.com, December 12, 2022. [1]
• Mark Bowman and Ethan Sands: "There is crying in baseball: Contreras bros.' special moment", mlb.com, April 29, 2022. [2]

Notable Achievements

• Won one World Series with the Atlanta Braves in 2021 (he did not play in the World Series)

Related Sites

• William Contreras on mlb.com