Brewing Up A MVP
One of the biggest surprises from this off season is the early season success of the Milwaukee Brewers. After losing Brandon Woodruff for the season and trading away the ace of their staff Corbin Burnes, the Brew Crew hold a two game lead over the division favorite Cubs. The lineup has been fantastic, ranking 3rd in all of baseball in runs per game and OPS. Christian Yelich has had a resurgent season posting a .984 OPS, and good bounce back seasons from veterans Willy Adames and Rhys Hoskins. The biggest impact for their lineup has been two of their most recent acquisitions, Joey Ortiz and William Contreras. Ortiz was one of two players they received in return for Corbin Burnes, and he has been great posting an OPS of .941 and clubbing 5 HRs in 102 at bats. Contreras however, has been the biggest impact player for Milwaukee. And his progression might help him win some hardware.
To start, let’s look at his time as a whole in Milwaukee. He was acquired prior to the 2023 season in a three team trade with the Athletics and the Braves. The Brewers had to give up touted prospect Estuery Ruiz in the deal but in return they got Contreras, who was an All-Star in 2022 for Atlanta. In his first season after the trade he was great, hitting 17 HR and posting a .825 OPS in 141 games, and winning a NL Silver Slugger award for catchers. He also improved his catching ability, ranking above average in framing and throwing out base stealers, which was a concern in Atlanta and led to him being traded. So far this year, he has greatly improved offensively, posting a staggering .980 OPS and collecting 62 hits- seven of those being homers.
He is also tied for the league lead in runs with fellow MVP candidate Mookie Betts. He has cut down on strikeouts, as well, while improving his walk rate. He has done all of this while improving as a catcher as well as helping to elevate an already solid Milwaukee staff. All of these reasons are why he is my current dark horse MVP candidate in the NL, especially with some slower starts to some of the usual suspects (former teammate and fellow countryman Ronald Acuña included) only helping his case. Also, he has proven to be a premium bat at a premium position. And, despite his team batting well as a whole, it certainly helps that most of his protection in the lineup has come from sources that aren’t all household names, sans one former MVP winner in Christian Yelich. Mookie Betts however has to compete with teammate and fellow MVP candidate Shohei Ohtani and former teammate of Contreras and MVP winner Freddie Freeman.
While I know the season is long and there are still over 100 games left, at this point in the season, I would vote William Contreras for MVP. He has been one of the best players thus far and if he can build on this strong start, he may take up the mantles of both best catcher in the NL, and NL MVP.
By Jackson Westfall