Thanks to blazing hot starts from Kyle Schwarber, Javy Baez, and Kris Bryant, Willson Contreras’ quality offensive performance this season has mostly flown under the radar.
Indeed, before the start of play today, Contreras was slashing .275/.359/.406 (113 wRC+), which ranked sixth best among all qualified catchers in the game. As you can see, he was hitting for plenty of average and getting on base at a quality rate, but hadn’t yet found his power stroke … until just now.
With two outs in the top of the third inning of today’s Indians/Cubs matchup, Willson Contreras launched his first home run of the season.
Well-struck. pic.twitter.com/th8HBkPTWy
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 24, 2018
That ball got out in a hurry, huh? Sure, it probably wasn’t as fast as Kyle Schwarber’s second-inning home run (fifth hardest hit homer in MLB this season), but it was definitely well struck.
After that blast, Contreras is now slashing .282/.363/.451 (125 wRC+) on the season, which ranks fourth best among all catchers, one spot ahead of Buster Posey.
.@WContreras40 drills a solo homer in the 3rd! #Cubs lead 3-0. #EverybodyIn pic.twitter.com/JtqLRJTTU7
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 24, 2018