FORT MYERS, Fla. – Willson Contreras already had a Pink Sox duffle bag when he arrived at spring coaching this week.
“I couldn’t present up with (one other staff’s),” Contreras stated with a smile.
Gamers sometimes obtain staff gear once they report. It’s not unusual to stroll right into a clubhouse across the MLB commerce deadline and see one other staff’s logos and colours on the belongings of a brand new arrival. Some gamers merely don’t really feel the necessity to eliminate a top quality piece of baggage, like Christian Arroyo, who reported to Mets camp in Port St. Lucie on Saturday with an outdated Pink Sox bag slung over one shoulder.
The Pink Sox acquired Contreras, 33, from the St. Louis Cardinals in late December. He has two seasons left on a five-year, $87.5 million contract that features a staff possibility for 2028.
Contreras requested Pink Sox clubhouse attendants to have the gear despatched to him forward of camp. The three-time All-Star and 2016 World Collection champion, who waived his no-trade clause for Boston, didn’t wish to watch for this new chapter to begin in even the smallest methods.
This new chapter will embody a short pause, nevertheless, so Contreras can verify two particular objectives off his bucket record.
The veteran catcher-turned-first-baseman will characterize his native Venezuela in subsequent month’s World Baseball Traditional (although he’s nonetheless ready for insurance coverage approval). And he’ll accomplish that alongside youthful brother, William.
“It is going to be top-of-the-line experiences that I’ve in my life,” Contreras stated Saturday, throughout his first spring coaching media session. “Taking part in for Venezuela, with my brother, is one factor that we had been trying (ahead) to.”
Each might be firsts for Contreras. The 2017 WBC was months after his rookie season ended with the primary Chicago Cubs World Collection championship in 108 years. He abstained once more in 2023 as a result of he had simply signed a five-year contract with the St. Louis Cardinals.
“I wished to remain there to know the pitching workers, and mainly half of them left (to play within the WBC),” the previous catcher defined with a smile. “However this 12 months I stated sure from Day 1, and this one no person’s taking away from me.”
The Contreras brothers by no means performed on the identical groups rising up, Willson stated, as a result of William is 5 years youthful. They spent the final three seasons as NL Central rivals, aside from their picks to the 2022 All-Star Sport.
“It was a dream come true for us,” Contreras stated of the midsummer basic. “We got here from Puerto Cavallo, Venezuela. We had been two children dreaming of attending to the massive leagues, after which we acquired to the massive leagues. Then dreaming of going to (the) All-Star Sport, and we made it.”
Representing Venezuela with William “means lots for me and my household,” Contreras stated.
Venezuela is Contreras’ first residence. The Pink Sox already really feel like a second one.
“What caught my consideration was the chemistry that we have already got in right here,” Contreras stated, “even me, they made me really feel like I’ve been right here for years. And I’ve like, three days in right here. … (They) deal with me like (a) brother. Like, ‘We already know you, who you’re.’”
“And that’s the place every part begins,” the veteran defined. “You begin within the clubhouse, you win the clubhouse, you then translate that from the clubhouse to the sector.”
Contreras is a lifetime .258 common, .811 OPS hitter. Final season he made the transition from catcher to first base look simple. Definitely simpler than it felt, he stated. He ranked within the 91st MLB percentile in Outs Above Common and 77th percentile in Fielding Run Worth.
It helped that the Cardinals had a legend in residence at spring coaching: the fantastic ‘Wizard of Oz.’
“Ozzie Smith, he confirmed up a pair occasions throughout my exercises and defined a number of the angles, a number of the stuff, and I requested him lots of questions and that helped lots,” Contreras stated of the famed shortstop, whose Corridor of Fame profession included 13 consecutive Gold Glove seasons from 1980-92.
Smith was “wonderful,” Contreras raved. “And you want to hear. If you happen to don’t take heed to that man, you’re taking part in the incorrect sport!”
The Wizard’s recommendation? “Keep in your ft,” Contreras stated. “Don’t keep flat-footed, keep prepared.”
Contreras final caught a significant league sport in 2024, and isn’t anticipated to don his catcher’s gear this season. Wowed by Boston’s deep, elite pitching workers, which tasks to be among the many greatest within the sport, Contreras isn’t a lot jealous that he doesn’t get to catch them as he’s grateful he doesn’t must bat in opposition to them.
But when the Pink Sox want him behind the dish, all they must do is ask.
“My entire aim right here is simply, assist the staff in any approach I can,” Contreras stated. “Staff participant. No ego. Attempt to win. Do my greatest.”
