Brewers catcher William Contreras has seen his energy output decline this season, and MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy reports that he’s been taking part in by means of a fracture within the center finger on his catching hand “for a while.”
Contreras underwent x-rays Tuesday evening that confirmed the presence of that fracture however didn’t reveal extra injury. He’ll start sporting a splint whereas catching to assist mitigate a number of the results of the fracture however is anticipated to stay on the roster and proceed catching.
Contreras, 27, remains to be getting on base at a hefty .358 clip, due in no small half to an enormous 15.5 p.c stroll price. He’s hitting .242/.348/.331 general, nevertheless, which is a notable departure from the .283/.363/.472 output he produced from 2022-24. Contreras has simply 5 extra-base hits this season — a pair of doubles and three homers — all of which got here previous to April 14. He’s slugging .257 over his previous 84 journeys to the plate.
Even with Contreras scuffling a bit and minimal manufacturing from the left facet of the infield, the Brewers stay a good offense, rating tenth within the majors with 174 runs scored. Whether or not they can proceed at that tempo is a good query, nevertheless. Brewers hitters rank 18th in MLB with a mixed .239 common, 14th with a .317 on-base proportion and simply twenty fifth with a .360 slugging proportion. By measure of wRC+ (91), their offense ranks twenty fourth within the majors and has been 9 p.c worse than common.
Whereas it appears there’s no rapid plan to take a seat Contreras down for any stretch of time, one would think about that would change if his offense continues to lag. Eric Haase is Milwaukee’s backup and has hit .276/.314/.506 in a small pattern of 93 plate appearances with the Brew Crew courting again to final season. That vast manufacturing has been propped up by a .400 common on balls in play and occurred regardless of a titanic 38.7 p.c strikeout price, making him a transparent candidate for regression.
In the meanwhile, the Brewers’ catchers in Triple-A Nashville embody veteran Jorge Alfaro, former Yankees first-rounder Anthony Seigler and 2019 fourth-rounder Nick Kahle.
Alfaro is hitting .213/.259/.417 in 28 video games. Seigler, a catcher and second baseman, sports activities a .244/.416/.419 line in 113 plate appearances however is simply getting again into catching after spending all of 2024 at second base within the Yankees’ system. He signed with the Brewers as a minor league free agent in November. Kahle was solely activated for his season debut on April 22 and is hitless in his first 13 plate appearances.
Notably absent from that group is prime catching prospect Jeferson Quero. The 22-year-old is extensively thought of to be among the many sport’s prime 100 prospects, however he missed practically all the 2024 season due to shoulder surgery and has but to play in 2025 after struggling a hamstring damage late in spring coaching.
