Willson Contreras

33-Year-Old CatcherC

St. Louis Cardinals

2025 Stats

AVG

.237

RBI

Rest-of-Season Projections

AVG

RBI

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2025 Fantasy Outlook

Fractures to his left forearm and left pinkie in separate incidents resulted in Contreras being limited to just 84 games last season. He was very productive when on the field, finishing with a career-high 136 OPS+ with 15 long balls over 358 plate appearances. Nearly 40 percent of Contreras' starts in 2024 came from the designated hitter spot, and the Cardinals plan to play him there and at first base regularly in 2025 with Paul Goldschmidt no longer around. Fantasy managers will be happy with that setup if it helps keep Contreras off the IL, as he's been a consistent source of offensive production, albeit one that typically falls shy of the elite at the position. The move off catcher increases his counting stat upside for 2025, but those in dynasty leagues should prepare for him to lose catcher eligibility heading into 2026. Read Past Outlooks

RANKS

Rest of Season

Overall Rank

Dynasty

From Preseason

#70

ADP

League Majors

Bats R

Throws R

40 Man Yes

Height 6'1"

Weight 240

DOB 5/13/1992

Born Puerto Cabello, Venezuela

College None

Drafted 2009 CHC

Back in lineup Monday

CSt. Louis Cardinals

May 26, 2025

Contreras (back) is in the lineup for Monday's game against Orioles, starting at first base and batting cleanup.

ANALYSIS
A bout of back spasms kept Contreras out of the starting lineup for all three games over the weekend, but he reported improvement Sunday and is evidently feeling well to play in the series opener in Baltimore against right-hander Charlie Morton. The 33-year-old Contreras has six homers this year but has not produced to his usual levels so far, posting a .729 OPS through 49 games, matching his career low.

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Batting Stats

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2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

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2024 MLB Game Log

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2023 MLB Game Log

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Batting Order Slot Breakdown

vs Right-Handed Pitchers

vs RHP

vs Left-Handed Pitchers

vs LHP

Left/Right Batting Splits

Since 2023

+11%

OPS vs LHP

2025

+14%

OPS vs LHP

2024

+5%

OPS vs LHP

2023

+13%

OPS vs LHP

	OPS	PA	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Since 2023vs Left	.866	274	36	10	39	4	.275	.370	.496
Since 2023vs Right	.783	802	91	31	93	8	.252	.352	.431
2025vs Left	.759	62	7	1	7	1	.245	.344	.415
2025vs Right	.663	161	17	5	22	1	.234	.304	.359
2024vs Left	.882	90	13	4	9	2	.267	.389	.493
2024vs Right	.837	268	35	11	27	2	.261	.377	.460
2023vs Left	.906	122	16	5	23	1	.296	.369	.537
2023vs Right	.799	373	39	15	44	5	.253	.355	.444
More Splits→	View More Split Stats
Minor League Splits→	View Minor League Split Stats

Home/Away Batting Splits

Since 2023

+7%

OPS on Road

2025

+1%

OPS at Home

2024

+16%

OPS on Road

2023

+5%

OPS on Road

	OPS	PA	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Since 2023Home	.776	511	64	17	56	8	.253	.357	.419
Since 2023Away	.830	565	63	24	76	4	.262	.356	.473
2025Home	.692	95	8	3	15	1	.244	.309	.384
2025Away	.686	128	16	3	14	1	.232	.320	.366
2024Home	.781	174	27	5	14	2	.248	.391	.390
2024Away	.907	184	21	10	22	2	.275	.370	.538
2023Home	.804	242	29	9	27	5	.259	.351	.453
2023Away	.847	253	26	11	40	1	.269	.365	.481
More Splits→	View More Split Stats

Stat Review

How does Willson Contreras compare to other hitters?

This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.

BB/K
Walk to strikeout ratio
BB Rate
The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
K Rate
The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
BABIP
Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
ISO
Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
AVG
Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
OBP
On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
SLG
Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
OPS
On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
wOBA
Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
Exit Velocity
The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
Hard Hit Rate
A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
Barrels/PA
The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
Expected BA
Expected Batting Average.
Expected SLG
Expected Slugging Percentage.
Sprint Speed
The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
Ground Ball %
The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
Line Drive %
The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
Fly Ball %
The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.

BB/K

0.29

BB Rate

7.2%

K Rate

24.7%

BABIP

.297

ISO

.136

AVG

.237

OBP

.315

SLG

.374

OPS

.689

wOBA

.307

Exit Velocity

89.6 mph

Hard Hit Rate

28.3%

Barrels/PA

6.7%

Expected BA

.269

Expected SLG

.483

Sprint Speed

23.6 ft/sec

Ground Ball %

48.6%

Line Drive %

19.4%

Fly Ball %

31.9%

Advanced Batting Stats

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Additional Stats

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Defensive Stats

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Batted Ball Stats

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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers

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Past Fantasy Outlooks

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

Contreras' first year in St. Louis was a bumpy one with a .438 winning percentage being the organization's worst since 1995. The drama started early with his new team, as he was pushed out from behind the plate in May due to poor defensive metrics, since the Cardinals apparently didn't realize he's always been a bat-first catcher. He still ended up making 97 appearances at catcher compared to 30 at designated hitter, but the early-season issues set the tone for what ended up being an awful season for St. Louis. Individually however, Contreras was his usual productive self offensively, as he delivered a fourth straight 20-homer campaign (the shortened 2020 season notwithstanding) and a 127 wRC+, which tied for best in baseball among catchers with at least 450 plate appearances. Volume is the only real concern for fantasy managers at this point -- his 495 plate appearances in 2023 being the second-highest total of his career -- with the lack of opportunities keeping his run production at modest levels (55 runs, 67 RBI last season). Despite that ceiling, Contreras should be locked in as one of the better fantasy catchers again in 2024.

Contreras posted a career-high 132 wRC+ which could have been even better, except he had to deal with a multitude of injuries, most notably recurring hamstring and ankle woes. Even so, Contreras managed 487 plate appearances, the third most of his career. Serving as the designated hitter 39 times helped keep Contreras' bat in the lineup when he was hurt. Fueling the career year was a personal-best 21.1% strikeout rate and a career-high 48.6% hard-hit rate. Contreras 21.2% HR/FB was typically high, but a 33% flyball rate limits Contreras' power. Many expected Contreras to be dealt at the trade deadline, but he finished the season with the Cubs before declining their qualifying offer. Contreras signed a five-year, $87.5 million deal with the rival Cardinals and will presumably hit in a favorable spot in a far superior lineup -- the park move was neutral. The top end of the catcher pool is improving, but Contreras still warrants upper tier status.

Contreras is facing an uncertain 2022 given it's the final year of his contract and the Cubs are all but certain to move the veteran catcher. Contreras resumed his power-hitting abilities in 2021, but did so while posting a career-worst 28.6% strikeout rate which pulled his average down to a career-low .237. His plate discipline was mostly consistent with previous efforts and the strikeouts were more correlated to him taking called strikes (16% rate was also a career worst). Sensing a trend here? Being a veteran who was around for the good times only to see all of your friends leave cannot be easy. A new location may not offer the same playing-time guarantees that Contreras enjoys in Chicago. Regardless a change of scenery should serve him well in 2022.

Contreras is capable of better than what he produced at the plate in 2020, as his 109 wRC+, the product of a .243/.356/.407 slash line, represented the second-lowest mark of his five-year career. In the context of a rather weak catcher pool, however, those numbers were perfectly adequate. He chipped in with seven homers, tying him for fourth at the position. His 25.3 K% was the worst mark of his career but was barely worse than his 24.9 K% from 2019. When he did hit the ball, he actually hit it harder than ever before, generating a career-high 47.8% hard-hit rate that helped him to a .441 xSLG. Contreras has pretty much settled into a stable spot in the catcher hierarchy through five big-league seasons, sitting not quite at the top of the pile but not far from it. Since his debut season, he ranks in the top seven among backstops in all five standard fantasy categories.

Contreras was an above-average offensive catcher in 2019 for the third time in four seasons. The one "down" season saw him perform at a league-average level relative to his position. Last year looked a lot like the guy we fell in love with in 2017, which is what owners who bought him on the cheap wanted to see from the catcher. He maintains his excellence against left-handed pitching, but the bounce-back numbers from 2019 came from his resurgence against righties as he improved his OPS against them by 150 points over 2018. The Statcast numbers do not validate the performance as most of Contreras' expected statistics are nearly a full deviation below his actual outcomes from 2019. That's despite the fact his 42% hard-hit rate was easily the best of his four-year career. Bake in some regression in the numbers, but the skills here have proven to be relatively stable even if the outcomes are a bit wonky.

Contreras was one of many disappointing catchers as 2018 was an off year for the position. His primary downfall was a precipitous drop in power, fueled by a plummeting HR/FB mark. Contreras hits over half of his batted balls on the ground so he needs to maintain a lofty HR/FB level to generate power. While some pullback from 2017's 26% was likely, falling to a meek 9% was a shock, though supported by a drop in hard-hit rate in a year where the average rate increased. Contreras' plate skills held steady as did his BABIP, so his batting average drop was due to homers converted to outs. Contreras will be 27 years old this season, so chances are 2018 was more fluke than fact. Expect a power rebound, though capped by a 30% flyball rate. Since he'll remain a bell cow behind the dish, hitting in the meat of the Cubs' order, Contreras is a strong candidate to return top-five backstop status, likely at a discounted price.

Although he was limited to just 117 games last season, mainly due to a hamstring injury which cost him almost a month, Contreras still finished as a top-six catcher in standard formats. He posted a mighty healthy .223 ISO, which would have been a top-50 overall mark in baseball had Contreras logged enough plate appearances to qualify, and he improved both his strikeout (22.9 percent) and walk (10.5 percent) rates from his already strong marks as a rookie. The 25-year-old barrels the ball up consistently and he hits same-handed pitching well, as evidenced by his .273/.347/.486 career line against righties (.292/.379/.514 against lefties). Contreras has established himself as a legitimate middle-of-the-order bat in a good offense, and his ability to play the outfield and first base in a pinch helps pad his counting totals a little more than other starting catchers. Buster Posey may go ahead of Contreras in a lot of drafts, but Contreras could outproduce the veteran in 2018.

After taking a big step forward at the plate during his 2015 campaign at Double-A, Contreras raked at Triple-A Iowa to begin the season and forced his way onto the Cubs' 25-man roster in short order. Especially for a 24-year-old, his performance was impressive, as he continued to show a discerning eye (9.2 percent walk rate) while flashing 20-25 home run pop. Additionally, Contreras proved to be an above-average defender, which should give him the starting job again in 2017 regardless of what the team does with Miguel Montero. Although his overall line fell during the second half, Contreras cut his strikeout rate from 26.9 percent to 22.1 percent during that span. Moreover, Contreras demonstrated the ability to handle righties and lefties, swatting 10 of his 12 homers against the former while maintaining a slightly higher OPS against the latter (.854). Contreras' pop and run-production potential give him a chance to finish as a top-five catcher in 2017.

Contreras spent the whole year with Double-A Tennessee in 2015 and easily had the best season of his professional career. The 23-year-old backstop batted .333 with 75 RBI and 71 runs for the Smokies and has played his way into the Cubs' long-term plans. With Kyle Schwarber possibly sticking in the outfield, another good year in the minors for Contreras could put him in contention for a spot on the 2017 roster. His BB:K ratio was abysmal coming into 2015, but he learned to take pitches last year, and it paid off in spades. That 57:62 BB:K is appealing, especially coming from a catcher, but he'll need to do it again before we should get too excited.

More Fantasy News

Aiming for return Monday

CSt. Louis Cardinals

Back

May 25, 2025

Contreras (back) may return to the Cardinals' lineup Monday versus the Orioles, John Denton of MLB.com reports.

ANALYSIS
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Sitting again Sunday

CSt. Louis Cardinals

Back

May 25, 2025

Contreras (back) is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Diamondbacks.

ANALYSIS
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Still out Saturday

CSt. Louis Cardinals

Back

May 24, 2025

Contreras (back) isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against Arizona.

ANALYSIS
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Scratched from Friday's lineup

CSt. Louis Cardinals

Undisclosed

May 23, 2025

Contreras was scratched from Friday's lineup against the Diamondbacks due to back spasms, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

ANALYSIS
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Extends on-base streak to 15 games

CSt. Louis Cardinals

May 16, 2025

Contreras went 2-for-5 with two doubles, an RBI and three runs scored in Friday's 10-4 win over the Royals.

ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors

Doesn't want to be traded

CSt. Louis Cardinals

November 6, 2024

Contreras has informed the Cardinals that his preference is to remain in St. Louis rather than waiving his no-trade clause, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

ANALYSIS
The Cardinals are looking to trim payroll, but Contreras and Sonny Gray -- both of whom have no-trade clauses -- have told the team that they want to stay put. Contreras, who has three years and $54 million remaining on his contract along with a $17.5 million club option for 2028, will move to a first base/designated hitter role in 2025.

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