Atlanta Braves: It’s Time for William Contreras to become Catcher of the Present
By Matt Melton
With Atlanta Braves starting catcher Travis d’Arnaud recently put on the 60-day IL with an injury combined with back-up catcher Alex Jackson also put on the IL with an injury, the time and opportunity is now for one of the Braves catchers of the future to claim their spot.
Due to recent injuries that have occurred to the Atlanta Braves two major league catchers, there is an opportunity for someone to step up and claim the extensive playing time that is available. Of course there are a few short-term candidates to start for a couple of weeks, but the more intriguing option, and arguably best option, are for the Braves two catchers of the future to get the opportunity.
The two Atlanta Braves catchers of the future are widely considered as current Braves top prospects Shea Langeliers (No. 3) and William Contreras (No. 6). With Langeliers starting the season in Double-A, and honestly still too-early for him to be called up, the opportunity is 100% there for Contreras.
It’s time for William Contreras to become the Atlanta Braves starting catcher.
Contreras has been a favorite of Braves fans since making his MLB debut at the start of the 2020 shortened MLB season. Going 4/10 at the plate a year ago before being sent to the alternate training site, Contreras then backed that up with a strong 2021 Spring Training where he hit .350 with an insane 1.150 OPS in 20 at-bats.
When looking at Contreras’ minor league stats as well, it’s obvious why the hype is there. The 23-year old is a career .279 hitter across six minor league seasons, three of which came in rookie-ball, but outside of his “forced into action” few games last season has never played in a game higher than Double-A.
If he has never played higher than Double-A aside from a few games, then why are fans so excited about Contreras?
If you didn’t know by now, William is the brother of current Chicago Cubs catcher Willson Contreras. Not only is he his brother, but he also displays a very similar skill-set to Willson that have Braves fans excited.
Contreras has the potential to very well end up as a similar player, if not better, than his brother, who is arguably one of the best offensive and defensive catchers in baseball. Already a two-time minor league All-Star, Contreras has continued to impress over the years by showing continued improvement in key areas.
Contreras has flashed abilities to be a plus defensive catcher in the future, while also showing flashes of promise to be a hitter for both contact and power at the plate. Having all of these abilities, and quite frankly above-average in all of them, is only a small reason as-to-why he is considered not only an Atlanta Braves top prospect, but one of the top catching prospects in baseball.
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So, the opportunity to become the full-time starting catcher for the Braves going forward is sitting right in front of him. It’s time for Contreras to take advantage of the opportunity, give the Braves one of the best young and talented catchers in baseball, and become not only the Atlanta Braves starting catcher of the future, but the present.