When the Braves included William Contreras in a three-team trade that netted Sean Murphy, many Atlanta fans were left scratching their heads.
Wild Bill was coming off the first All-Star campaign of his career, in which he slashed .278/.354/.506 with 20 home runs, 14 doubles, and 45 RBIs, all good for a 136 OPS+ (36% above league average).
Even if his defense left a little bit to be desired, Contreras more than made up for it with the stick, right? Wrong. New information has emerged via Braves insider Mark Bowman of MLB.com that his work behind the dish was the primary factor in the trade
“The William Contreras trade that brought Sean Murphy to Atlanta feels like a big miss. But some pitchers didn’t want to throw to Contreras and Murphy still has time to prove he can be the catcher the Braves envisioned,” Bowman writes.
While Sean Murphy has struggled for the better part of a year and a half, William Contreras is making a case for the best catcher in baseball. Murphy had arguably the worst year of his career last season, finishing with a batting average below the Mendoza Line, 10 homers, and a career-low .636 OPS.
That followed a pitiful finish to the 2023 campaign, in which he hit just .159 with a .585 OPS over his last 41 games. The Braves catcher’s first half of the season with the club went as well as it possibly could’ve, sniffing a 1.000 OPS and finding himself in the NL MVP race ahead of the All-Star break. Unfortunately for Atlanta, Contreras has been playing like that for his entire time in Milwaukee, winning his second Silver Slugger in consecutive seasons.
After posting an .831 OPS and 17 home runs in his first year with the Brewers, Contreras improved upon that impressive production, setting career highs in a number of metrics. Wild Bill hit .281 with a .365 on-base percentage and .831 OPS. He hit 23 home runs, scored 99 runs, and drove in 92 runs — all career-highs.
Contreras led all National League catchers in homers, runs, RBI, average and OPS. Since 2022, he leads all MLB catchers in average, OPS, runs, and WAR, while only second to Will Smith in RBI and homers.
Oh yeah, his defense has improved too. Sean Murphy’s story in Atlanta is still unwritten, but Alex Anthopoulos has to regret this trade.
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Larry Radloff/Icon Sportswire
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