Hard work paying off for Contreras, who shines vs. Tigers

MILWAUKEE -- William Contreras finally got to wear the home run cheesehead.

Contreras’ first homer for the Brewers came in his 70th plate appearance, a solo shot in the first inning of Milwaukee’s 4-2 loss to the Tigers at American Family Field on Monday night. Contreras tallied two hits, threw out a would-be basestealer and came within an overturned call of throwing out another, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Brewers from becoming the last team in MLB to lose back-to-back games.

“When you have talent and you’re willing to learn,” said Brewers coach Nestor Corredor, one of the handful of instructors helping Contreras transform into one of the game’s top all-around catchers, “his confidence goes higher with every game he plays.”

From the moment the Brewers acquired Contreras as part of a three-team trade with the Braves and A’s, it has been a team effort to try to expand his reputation from that of a hitter first to the sort of all-around player that Contreras wants to be. Leading the group is associate pitching, catching and strategy coach Walker McKinven, a catching guru who has built a reputation for elevating the defensive and framing abilities of recent Brewers backstops. Bench coach Pat Murphy also works with the catchers, as does Corredor, who caught in Milwaukee’s Minor League system before working his way up the ranks to the big leagues as a coach.

Their success -- Contreras’ success -- has come quickly. His five defensive runs saved are tops in MLB. Contreras ranks in Statcast’s top 10 in catcher framing runs and has led that category at times this season. He’s sixth so in catcher pop time with only a handful of throws measured so far. With the collective effort of Contreras and catcher Victor Caratini and the Brewers’ pitchers, Milwaukee is tied for the second-fewest stolen bases allowed this year with eight.

Now Contreras has a home run in the books, too.

“It’s probably a bigger deal for William to get the zero off the board,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “But they were coming.”

Even without the home runs, Contreras has provided the sort of offensive upgrade the Brewers thought was in store after their catchers ranked 18th of 30 teams in offensive value last season. Contreras has reached safely in 17 of his 18 games this year, with a hit in 16 games. But the hitting was considered more of a sure thing than the catching, which is why Contreras reported to Milwaukee's spring camp two weeks early to begin working with McKinven and the other coaches.

“This guy’s a warrior,” Murphy said. “You could see it the first day. You can just smell it in the air. He’s competitive, he’s intelligent and he cares about being great.”

“He was willing to get as much information as he could,” said Corredor, “so that when Spring Training started, he was a little bit ahead.”

The most obvious sign of that work is the way Contreras gets down on one knee as the pitcher begins his delivery. Catchers have gone back and forth over the years on that practice, but it’s favored now for reasons that vary from “stealing” as many low strikes as possible to being as quick as possible to release a throw to nab a baserunner who has some advantages these days under MLB’s new rules governing pickoff attempts.

“I’ve done it a little bit in the past, but not as consistently as this,” Contreras said through Brewers translator Carlos Brizuela. “With all the new rules, you have to be able to get rid of the ball quick, and I feel really comfortable with where I am with it and putting good throws behind it as well. I really feel good with my defense where I’m at right now.”

Said Murphy: “It’s something that’s here to stay, because they’ve figured out he can throw from that position.”

As a side effect of being in that position, Contreras is one of the best catchers in baseball at getting the low strike for his pitchers. Going into Monday night, Contreras had converted 69.1 percent of non-swing pitches under the zone and over home plate into strikes, the second-highest rate in the Majors.

“He puts a lot of effort into getting down and bringing the glove up so cleanly,” Corredor said. “He’s strong and quick, so it’s hard for the umpire to pick it up.”

Contreras made clear that there is more work to do. He expects to hit for more power as the season progresses, but he’s proud that he didn’t let his focus on catching lead to frustration at the plate as he sought his first home run.

It’s all working. After finishing 18th last year, Brewers catchers rank third in FanGraphs WAR in 2023.

“The thing we thought is that athletically, this guy could do really anything,” Counsell said. “Those are the students who have a chance to get better.”