BIOGRAPHY
Willson Contreras was born on May 13, 1992, in Puerto Cabello, Carabobo, Venezuela. He is a catcher in the MLB.
He was promoted to the Cubs major league team on June 17, 2016. On June 19, he hit a two-run home run on the first pitch of his first major-league at-bat after two pick-off attempts by the pitcher to first base, becoming the 30th player in the modern MLB era to do so. In his fifth game, he started at the first base position, and started in left field in his eighth game, establishing himself as a versatile player on the field. Contreras finished the 2016 regular season with 80 hits in 295 at-bats with 12 home runs, 35 RBIs and a .275 batting average.
In Game 4 of the 2016 National League Division Series against the San Francisco Giants with the Cubs having a 2-1 series lead, Contreras had a pinch-hit two-run single in the top of the ninth inning, tying the score at 5. The Cubs scored the go-ahead run later that inning, sending them to the National League Championship Series. The Cubs won the 2016 World Series over the Cleveland Indians, giving the Cubs their first championship in 108 years. Contreras drove in a run with a double in the seventh game.
On April 2, 2017, Contreras was the Cubs' opening day starting catcher against the St. Louis Cardinals. After hitting 5 home runs in 6 games, he was selected as the National League's Player of the Week on August 8. In Game Four of the NLCS, Contreras hit the longest postseason home run (491 feet) since Statcast started recording such data in 2015.
Batting .287 with seven home runs and 34 RBIs, Contreras was voted to start in the 2018 All-Star Game, his first All-Star appearance. He finished his 2018 campaign batting .249 with ten home runs and 54 RBIs in 138 games.
Contreras had a fast start to the 2019 season, batting .315 with an on-base plus slugging percentage of 1.069 into mid-May. On May 11 he had his first career walk-off hit, a solo shot off the Milwaukee Brewers' Burch Smith, ending a 15-inning marathon. Contreras and teammate Javier Baez were named starters for the National League in the 2019 All-Star game.
In 2021, Contreras slashed .237/.340/.438 with 21 home runs and 57 RBIs in 128 games. He also caught the first combined no-hitter in Cubs history against the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 24.
Contreras signed with the St. Louis Cardinals after the 2022 season for 5 years at $87,500,000.