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Evaluating Willson Contreras' 2021 Season

 

Contreras is only one of 3 people left from the Cubs 2016 WS team, the others being Heyward and Hendricks, and he's been one of the more consistent and reliable players the Cubs have had, also providing good clubhouse leadership. 

Although it remains to be seen if Contreras will be on the Cubs in 2022, lets just assume he will be and take a look at his 2021 season.

Overall he hit .237 BA, .778 OPS, with 98 H, 21 HR, and 52 BB in 413 AB over 128 Games.

He had a bit of an off year, considering his career average was .259 BA and .807 OPS, but his best month was September/October, hitting .294 BA and .919 OPS. 

Some things deserve some notice:

  • He hit lefties better than righties. Vs lefties: .284 BA, .891 OPS. Vs righties: .219 BA, .734 OPS. That is normal for a right-handed batter, but being the everyday catcher the Cubs always rely on in their lineup, perhaps hitting lefties could be helped. Maybe the new hitting coach will help?
  • He has a MUCH better average if he is ahead in the count (ie. 2-0, 3-1, etc.), then if he is behind in the count. For example: 0-2 count (.167 BA), 1-2 count (.094 BA), 2-2 count (.128 BA), 3-2 count (.093 BA!). That is NOT good. In other words, if he is behind in the count, then it'll probably be an out, probably a strikeout. Especially the full count- c'mon man! That DEFINITELY needs some work.
  • He has a 48.6% hard hit rate, so that's not too bad, but if he hits to infield, he has a .083 BA. So, if it makes it to the outfield, he's probably got a single or double. If not, well, that's probably an out. He hit to the infield 132 times, and only got a hit 11 times, so perhaps not hitting to infield might be something to work on.
  • His fielding his good, with a .993 fielding percentage, but throwing out runners was a little off this year, as runners stole 46 bases, only getting caught 12 times, which is a 21% caught stealing percentage, lower than his career 30% CS. He did pick-off 5 runners this year!
If Contreras stays on the Cubs in 2022, which I hope he does, you can expect his hitting and fielding stats to go back up to about his career average.

But if he does not...then I think the Cubs should target Mike Zunino, the Rays' primary catcher. If they did trade Contreras, I hope that it would be for starting pitching, because I think offensively they can get some pretty good guys on the FA list without having to trade some guys. (Unless it is Bote or Heyward, they can trade them).

Overall on Contreras, I see a well-rounded catcher who can show that he can hit well (rare in catchers today), and be a good defensive player who can be relied on for a heavy workload.

David Ross has trusted Contreras and relied on his hitting in the lineup, getting some lead-off time as well as 3-6 man in the lineup most often. I hope Contreras stays and becomes one of the core pieces in the Cubs' rebuild- which I don't think will last as long as the previous one.

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