William Contreras is an All-Star, at least on his manager's ballot

This story was excerpted from Manny Randhawa's coverage of Adam McCalvy's Brewers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

When Brewers manager Pat Murphy was asked over the weekend about a recent slump at the plate for his starting catcher, William Contreras, he took the opportunity to express his view that Contreras is not only underrated, but he also should be voted an All-Star for the third time in his career.

On May 26, Contreras owned a .308/.376/.415 slash line for the season. Entering Milwaukee’s game against the Rockies in Colorado last Saturday, he was mired in a 3-for-30 skid.

That’s when Murphy went to bat for his backstop.

“He’s had two different periods this year where he’s been on fire, and then all of a sudden, it’s like he’s reaching for more,” Murphy said. “With William, he’s always trying to be the very best. He knows he’s -- if not the top catcher in the game, he’s one of them.

“I want to mention this to everybody because we’re around that time when the All-Star Game is coming. And everybody looks at all the numbers and all that stuff, but for William Contreras, you’re talking about a guy who is catching a rookie staff. He’s catching virtually nine out of every 10 games. And he’s guided this rookie staff [as part of a] winning ballclub.”

Contreras is a two-time Silver Slugger Award winner and in his last All-Star season, which came in 2024, he finished with an .831 OPS and 23 home runs for Milwaukee.

But he’s also one of the best in the game when it comes to throwing out would-be basestealers. According to Statcast, his +5 caught stealing above average entering Tuesday was tied with the Phillies’ J.T. Realmuto for most in the Majors.

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And something that can easily get overlooked is the value Contreras adds in between plays, particularly when it comes to what Murphy said about guiding a young pitching staff.

The most high-profile member of that staff is the hardest-throwing starter in baseball, one who is making a serious bid for this year’s National League Cy Young Award. And with every crackling fastball Jacob Misiorowski unleashes, it’s easy to forget about the man catching his heat.

On Saturday night, when Misiorowski delivered the fastest pitch by a starting pitcher since pitch tracking began in 2008 (103.7 mph), Contreras played a significant role in helping the 24-year-old phenom get through a jam in the seventh inning.

Misiorowski fought to stay in the game despite being at 91 pitches with runners at the corners, and his catcher was right there with him.

“I knew we weren’t going to take him out there in that situation,” Contreras said through interpreter Daniel de Mondesert. “And if they asked me, I was going to tell them not to take him out either. I knew that he still had his good stuff out there, and he was still executing his pitches. So in my opinion, he deserved to be out there, and he was.”

Part of the reason for that is the trust Murphy had not just in Misiorowski, but also in Contreras. And as far as Murphy is concerned, it’s those unseen elements that bolster Contreras’ case for another trip to the Midsummer Classic.

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Murphy added that Contreras’ play is a major reason the Brewers are considered overachievers year-in and year-out.

“Although we aren’t surprising anybody with our early-season success, it is kind of unbelievable that every year nobody thinks we’re going to be that good. And we’re always a little better. William is a huge part of that.”

Murphy had a talk with Contreras on Friday, and over the final two games of the series in Colorado, Contreras went 4-for-10 with a home run. Then he went 3-for-6 with a walk, three runs scored and a huge three-run homer in the Brewers’ 12-inning slugfest against the A’s in Las Vegas on Monday night, taking a seat at home plate and watching the baseball fly after hitting one of 11 home runs in the game.

But while Murphy expects that Contreras will be a strong contributor at the plate throughout the season as Milwaukee seeks a fourth consecutive NL Central title, he says there is more to Contreras’ game that needs to be considered with balloting now open for the 96th MLB All-Star Game.

“When I think about All-Star Games and things like that,” Murphy said, “there are things you can’t measure that he does for our team.”