Milwaukee Brewers catcher and designated hitter William Contreras has arguably been the teams offensive MVP of the season. His ability to get on base, hit for power, and make adjustments at the plate has been impressive to watch. Behind the dish he has been a sensational pitch framer and defender as well, but one caveat is that he has not caught the teams ace Corbin Burnes since May 22.
Against the Washington Nationals on Saturday night William Contreras was chosen over Victor Caratini to catch Corbin Burnes. Victor Caratini had caught Corbin Burnes last 19 games in which over that stretch the starting pitcher covered 122 innings, had a 3.24 ERA, and held opposing batters to a .185 batting average against. With the playoffs looming this does make one wonder what the plan at catcher is once the post season starts.
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What is the Milwaukee Brewers plan at catcher for Corbin Burnes starts once the post season starts?
Manager Craig Counsell did not reveal his true intentions, but he did have this to say as to why William Contreras caught Corbin Burnes on Saturday night against the Nationals.
“It’s just something we had our eye on to do as we get into September because you just don’t know what could happen and you want to be prepared for everything.”
There is no denying the chemistry that Victor Caratini and Corbin Burnes have together. That in itself may be enough to keep him behind the plate in the post season and William Contreras at designated hitter. However the 30 year old veteran has just an 86 OPS+ as a hitter and in the playoffs every at-bat is crucial.
Having William Contreras catch Corbin Burnes makes more sense in a post season scenario for that way a batter such as Rowdy Tellez, Josh Donaldson, or someone else can be the designated hitter. It will be interesting to see what Craig Counsell elects to do once this scenario arises.
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