Chicago Cubs Season in Review: Willson Contreras
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Willson Contreras never faltered in the first half. In nearly every facet of the game, he was elite, one of the last links to the 2016 World Series that now seems so much deeper in the past than just six years.
2016 was Contreras' rookie season so the World Series to 2022 was full circle for him as a Chicago Cub. He had never known anything else than a winning clubhouse. And through the first half of 2021, all the Cubs did was win when he was around.
But after a trade deadline in which many of his co-champions were sold off, his presence was ever more important as a leader and a cornerstone for a youthful Cubs team, now looking to the future instead of the past.
His 2022 OPS+ was the highest of his career, despite boasting a better OPS in all of 2019, 2017, and 2016. Those three seasons occurred in a high-offensive environment. MLB experienced a mini dead-ball ERA in 2022, so his .815 OPS was more impressive.
Through mid-June, Contreras wasn't just one of the best hitters on the team, he was one of the best in baseball, sporting a .927 OPS on Jun. 19 before things went downhill.
Through 85 plate appearances in July, Contreras boasted a .149/.259/.230 slash line, not good enough to stick in the Majors, let alone be a starting player.
Thankfully, things turned around for him, even if August did feature the injury that would see him miss many of the final games in his Cubs career.
On Aug. 11 at the Field of Dreams game against the Cincinnati Reds, Contreras sprained his ankle. In an attempt to play through the pain, he may have aggravated it further, and soon he found himself on the injured list Aug. 31 with an uncertain return.
Though he slashed .221/.287/.546 in August, it really should have been a better month for him. In only 87 plate appearances he hit seven home runs, but his BABIP was .175. In what could have been the best month of his season, Contreras got unlucky.
Coming back for the final few games of the season, the ones that seemed likely to be the end of his time with the Cubs, Contreras won five in a row. In every game he appeared in but his final contest in Sept/Oct, the Cubs took the victory, though that final game was a 2-for-3 night with a home run and a walk.
Looking at Contreras as a complete player, both on offense and defense, he had an outstanding season, though theoretically it could have been better. He lived up to lofty expectations and got to finish the season as a Cub, an outcome few expected before the trade deadline.
As a catcher, he had one of baseball's better pop times and as a hitter, few hit the ball hard more often than him. In a world with even luck, 2022 is probably unanimously considered Contreras' best season.
Final Grade: A-
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