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Willson Contreras

Willson Contreras

33-Year-Old First Baseman1B
St. Louis Cardinals
Out
Injury Shoulder
Est. Return 2/1/2026
2025 Stats
AVG
.257
HR
20
RBI
80
R
70
SB
5
Rest-of-Season Projections
AVG
HR
RBI
R
SB
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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
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RANKS
Rest of Season
#Subscriber-Only
Overall Rank
#Subscriber-Only
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
Signed a five-year, $82.5 million contract with the Cardinals in December of 2022. Contract includes $17.5 million team option ($5 million buyout) for 2028. Contract includes $50,000 annual incentives for each Gold Glove Award and All-Star appearance and $25,000 for each Silver Slugger Award.
Unwilling to waive no-trade clause
1BSt. Louis Cardinals
Shoulder
September 28, 2025
Contreras (shoulder) informed incoming Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom during a conversation Friday that he wishes to remain with the team rather than waive his no-trade clause in order to facilitate a deal, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
Analysis
Contreras did hedge a bit, saying he expects the Cardinals to explore the trade market for him this offseason and he would listen if they came to him with a potential deal. However, his preference is to stay put, saying he "would like to be a part of the young team that is going to need to have some of experience around them." Contreras has two years and $36.5 million remaining on his contract, along with a $17.5 million club option (or $5 million buyout) for 2028. The 33-year-old is already done for the 2025 season, having been placed on the 10-day injured list earlier this month with a right shoulder strain.
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Batting Stats
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
19
5
59
10
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
3
14
17
7
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2023
 
 
+11%
OPS vs LHP
2025
 
 
+13%
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 .883 357 47 14 56 5 .281 .376 .507
Since 2023vs Right .796 1058 126 41 127 10 .254 .352 .444
2025vs Left .863 145 18 5 24 2 .276 .375 .488
2025vs Right .767 417 52 15 56 3 .251 .333 .433
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
 
 
+9%
OPS on Road
2025
 
 
+10%
OPS on Road
2024
 
 
+16%
OPS on Road
2023
 
 
+5%
OPS on Road
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2023Home .779 672 82 21 85 9 .253 .355 .424
Since 2023Away .853 743 91 34 98 6 .268 .361 .491
2025Home .752 256 26 7 44 2 .251 .333 .419
2025Away .824 306 44 13 36 3 .262 .353 .471
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
0.31
 
BB Rate
7.8%
 
K Rate
25.3%
 
BABIP
.319
 
ISO
.190
 
AVG
.257
 
OBP
.344
 
SLG
.447
 
OPS
.791
 
wOBA
.348
 
Exit Velocity
90.6 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
33.1%
 
Barrels/PA
8.7%
 
Expected BA
.268
 
Expected SLG
.506
 
Sprint Speed
23.2 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
41.8%
 
Line Drive %
20.7%
 
Fly Ball %
37.5%
 
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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Cardinals Depth Chart
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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
Season over after landing on IL
1BSt. Louis Cardinals
Shoulder
September 17, 2025
The Cardinals placed Contreras on the 10-day injured list Wednesday with a right shoulder strain.
Analysis
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Done for season with biceps strain
1BSt. Louis Cardinals
Biceps
September 17, 2025
The Cardinals will place Contreras on the 10-day injured list Wednesday with a right biceps strain, Katie Woo of The Athletic reports.
Analysis
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Held out of lineup Tuesday
1BSt. Louis Cardinals
Biceps
September 16, 2025
Contreras (biceps) is not in the lineup for Tuesday's game versus the Reds.
Analysis
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Departs with biceps injury
1BSt. Louis Cardinals
Biceps
September 15, 2025
Contreras was removed from Monday's game against the Reds due to right biceps tightness, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
Analysis
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Returns to St. Louis lineup
1BSt. Louis Cardinals
September 15, 2025
Contreras (soreness) will start at first base and bat cleanup in Monday's contest versus the Reds, John Denton of MLB.com reports.
Analysis
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Wants to stay in St. Louis
1BSt. Louis Cardinals
September 27, 2025
Contreras wants to stay with the Cardinals but is open to waiving his no-trade clause, according to Jeff Jones of MLB.com. "If something comes up to [president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom] that makes a lot of sense for him and the organization, and it makes sense for me and my future, how about we talk about that?" Contreras said. "But as of right now, I would just like to be part of the [rebuilding] process."
Analysis
Contreras wasn't open to allowing a deal last season, but his stance has changed recently. Even though he remains keen on staying with the Cardinals, it seems he'd be willing to waive his no-trade clause in a scenario where all parties benefit. Contreras hit .257 with 20 home runs and 80 RBI over 135 games in his first season as a full-time first baseman in 2025 before a shoulder injury ended his season.
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