FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Transitioning from one position (catcher) to another (first base) isn’t as easy as Willson Contreras made it look last season.
The respected veteran shed his catching gear and quickly got light on his feet in his new role, making six outs above average to put him in the 91st percentile at first base, per Statcast.
It turns out Contreras, who is embracing life in his early days with the Red Sox, got some brief but helpful tutelage from a baseball legend who once played for his old team (the Cardinals).
“Ozzie Smith,” said Contreras. “He showed up a couple of times during my workouts and explained some of the angles, some of the stuff and I asked him a lot of questions, and that helped a lot.”
Smith, a first-ballot Hall of Famer also known for back-flipping his way onto the baseball diamond, is arguably the best defensive shortstop in history.
How did he translate his knowledge from that position to giving Contreras helpful pointers at first base?
“He said, ‘Stay on your feet. Don't stay flat-footed. Stay ready and ask any question.’ But he won 14 Gold Gloves,” said Contreras. “It was like, ‘Tell me anything do you want me to do, I’ll do it. His advice, it was really helpful. You need to listen. If you don't listen to that guy, you’re playing the wrong sport.”
While the bat is probably the biggest reason adding Contreras was a top priority for the Red Sox, he also figures to be an important part of the team’s mission of doubling down on run prevention.
“Hands,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “He’s a good athlete, he moves well.”
For Contreras, a three-year run with the Cardinals ended four days before Christmas when he waived a no-trade clause to come to the Red Sox.
You get the sense that when Contreras joins a team, he goes all in right from the outset.
While players moved during the winter often come to camp sporting an equipment bag from their former team, Contreras went out of his way to make a clean break, asking a Boston clubhouse attendant to ship him a Red Sox bag to his home.
And Contreras, on the eve of the first full-squad workout, already felt like he was home.
“I think we're already having fun. I think what caught my attention was the chemistry they already have in here,” Contreras said. “Even for me, that made me feel like I've been here for years. And I’ve been here for three days. That’s where everything starts. We win the clubhouse, then you translate that from the clubhouse to the field, and then we play together. We back each other up, and it's gonna be fun.”
On a diverse team with many Spanish-speakers, including several who are also from Venezuela, Contreras figures to be an important presence on and off the field.
After losing Alex Bregman in free agency, it was vital for the Red Sox to get another leader on the position-player side.
“So far, the impact, you can see it,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “[With] Wily [Abreu], . [Ranger] Suárez. There are a lot of Venezuelans on the squad and I think that will help the other guys. [Brayan] Bello will benefit from that. [Ceddanne] Rafaela will benefit from that. He has played in Chicago, he played in St. Louis. Baseball cities. Now he is going to Boston, so it’s kind of the same thing for him.”
And the same thing means expected hard contact that will place him in the fourth spot in Cora’s lineup.
“I think it will [be] similar to what Alex [Bregman] brought last year offensively. Very similar. This guy is going to hit the ball hard. It’s a quality at-bat. It’s a righty that we needed,” said Cora. “He had a good season last year. Obviously, it’s a different scenario. Different ballpark. He’ll learn quick to hit the ball in the air to left field.”
The 33-year-old, who put up an OPS of .791 or higher in each of the last four seasons, represents the best offensive upgrade made by the Red Sox this offseason.
“I think an important thing for me is just having good at-bats. It doesn't matter where I hit in the lineup,” Contreras said. “I think we have a really good team from one through nine, who can back each other up, and hitting in the cleanup spot is good. I think it's fun. And I'm looking forward to it.”