William Contreras Stole The Show In Brewers’ First World Series Win In 44 Years

MILWAUKEE — By the time the eighth inning arrived Friday night at American Family Field, William Contreras had already impacted the Brewers’ first World Series game in 44 years in nearly every way that a catcher could. At the plate, he had delivered a first-inning RBI single to help build an early lead. Behind it, he had caught two runners stealing and won two ABS challenges to steal back strikes for his pitchers. Each of those challenges resulted in strikeouts. But there was still more assistance he felt he could provide in the field with the Brewers nursing a two-run lead in their eventual 3-2 win over the Rays. So when Aaron Ashby floated a 2-1 curveball that missed the plate badly, forcing Rays outfielder Victor Mesa Jr. to duck out of the way to avoid being hit, Contreras calmly asked for a new ball, walked straight out to the mound, covered his glove with his mouth to shield his words and patted Ashby on the back. “The mound visit tonight between he and I was, quite frankly, a one-way conversation,” Ashby told me. “I was doing the listening. It was just, like, I needed to hear what he was saying. He knows the right times to speak and what to put down. He’s unbelievable.” Spanish is Contreras’ primary language, but the Venezuelan catcher delivered his words of wisdom to Ashby in English. What exactly did Contreras say? “I cannot share,” Ashby said with a grin. The gist: “Get in the zone.” Ashby, who still has not allowed a run in 14 innings this postseason, heeded the advice. The multi-inning sensation battled back to strike out Mesa in a perfect eighth inning, with some assistance from his catcher. Contreras said he has taken it upon himself this year to make more of a point of talking “a little bit more sternly” to his pitchers. “It’s kind of my way of giving them some confidence and giving them a boost, the lift they need whenever they’re out there on the mound,” Contreras said through an interpreter. “I’m not sure how some of the guys take it, but that was something for me that was a priority of mine.” Clearly, it’s working. Contreras has had his hands on nearly every part of the Brewers’ run this October. He has guided a pitching staff that’s 8-1 with a 2.03 ERA and a bullpen that owns a 1.41 ERA with seven saves. And he has been the team’s offensive MVP, leading the Brewers in hits and homers while slashing .394/.487/.697 with as many walks as strikeouts. “He wants to win and is ready to do what it takes to win,” Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich told me. “You see that out there behind the plate and the passion and intensity of his at-bats.” Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold quipped that Contreras, known by many as “Wild Bill,” has to give the hardest high-fives in Major League Baseball. One such greeting awaited Spencer Allen after Contreras’ RBI single Friday night. Contreras reached base three times in his four plate appearances, increasing the decibel levels inside a sold-out American Family Field each time. His first at-bat resulted in the Brewers’ hardest-hit ball of the game, a scorching 108.4-mph liner that was too hot for Rays shortstop and defensive whiz Taylor Walls to handle. The hit scored the Brewers’ second run, sent 43,250 fans who had waited 44 years for this opportunity into a frenzy and ensured that Milwaukee’s week-long layoff after sweeping the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series wouldn’t lead to any rust. “This guy has been incredible,” said Brewers manager Pat Murphy, “and he does both sides of the ball. And the side that you can’t measure. I don’t know what his numbers are, but he does so much for the team.” On Friday, Contreras finished 2-for-3 with a walk while also starring defensively. The Rays were a perfect 11-for-11 on stolen base attempts before Contreras threw out two runners. How does a big hit compare to the joy that Contreras feels from catching someone stealing? “They really are very comparable,” Contreras told me through an interpreter, “but what I was able to do defensively today I think means a little bit more to me.” That would make sense, considering his history. Contreras is one of the many examples of a Brewers player discarded by one team before finding refuge and new heights in Milwaukee. Four years ago, the Braves favored the defense of Sean Murphy over the offense of Contreras and sent the 24-year-old catcher, who was coming off a 20-homer All-Star season, to Milwaukee in a three-team trade. Since then, Contreras has logged the second-most innings behind the plate of any catcher in MLB and has the highest OPS of any primary catcher who played in at least 500 games over the last four years. His complete skillset was on display Friday night. And in a low-scoring Game 1 decided on the margins, Contreras’ impact — in ways both obvious and more obscure — made all the difference. “He was the player of the game,” Murphy said. “We had a lot of good performances, a lot of good things … but Contreras was unbelievable.” In the second inning, Contreras’ challenge on a 100.7 mph four-seamer from Jacob Misiorowski overturned a ball to a strike in an eventual strikeout of Mesa. In the fifth, with the Brewers leading by just a run, Contreras caught Mesa stealing third with slugger Yandy Díaz — who had the highest batting average with runners in scoring position this season — at the plate to end the inning before any damage was done. An inning later, Contreras challenged a 1-0 sinker to Chandler Simpson that was overturned to a strike. On the seventh pitch of the at-bat, reliever Abner Uribe got Simpson swinging on a slider for a strikeout. Uribe then ducked, watching a dart from Contreras fly over his head and masterfully into the glove of shortstop Cooper Pratt, who supplied the inning-ending tag to catch Jonathan Aranda stealing on an inning-ending double play. Uribe roared with excitement, then pointed appreciatively to the catcher who left an imprint on nearly every turning point in the Brewers’ first World Series victory since 1982. “This fanbase deserves this,” Ashby said. “Just super special stuff.”