St. Louis catcher Contreras has dinner with brother Thursday, faces him on field Friday
Starting last Nov. 6, for just over a month, for the first time in more than six years, there were no catching Contreras brothers at all under contract in the National League Central.
On Dec. 9, Willson Contreras signed a five-year free agent contract with the St. Louis Cardinals. Three days later, his brother William was involved in a three-team trade which saw him shipped from Atlanta to the Milwaukee Brewers. In the blink of an eye, they found themselves in a long-term lock-up, ready to see how much brotherly rivalry might spill over between the lines.
“I think we wish each other good luck and wouldn’t talk anymore,” Willson Contreras said Friday before their first matchup when asked if the two of them might exchange a little enhanced smack talk on the field. “That’s what we did last year. We’re brothers, (but) we’re professionals, and he’s trying to beat me. I’m trying to beat him.
“I take this game way too serious to make fun in the middle of an at bat.”
The fun came Thursday when the brothers, along with their agents and fellow Venezuelan Cardinal Juan Yepez, carved out time to meet for dinner.
William picked the restaurant. Willson paid. The droll look on Willson’s face implied that it certainly was neither the first nor last time he took care of a check, though William’s own career trajectory seems likely to allow him to pick up plenty of bills in the near future.
Willson ending up in St. Louis seemed almost a fait accompli by the time it was finalized in December. His own curiosity was piqued before his tenure with the Chicago Cubs ended, and he slipped on his first Cardinals jersey in private — a gift from Yadier Molina — as the season drew to a close.
His brother, though, wasn’t meant to be here. Willson said that a week before the trade which saw Sean Murphy — another prominent option for the Cardinals — end up in Atlanta, William was assured he was in the team’s future plans and that he wouldn’t be traded.
“I took that personal,” Willson said. “I understand this is a business, but if you’re 100% honest, or if you say I might make a move, or don’t get too comfortable, that’s better than saying you won’t get moved.”
That, he figures, is probably why he “showed (his) emotional side” in the series against Atlanta, though his demonstrative yell toward the home dugout upon throwing out Ronald Acuña, Jr. as he attempted to steal second came from a different place altogether.
“When you make a good throw like that, and you transfer it with good time to second, it’s an achievement for us. That was just me,” Willson said.
More about Contreras bros.
It’s that pop time to second which made Friday’s matchup possible in the first place. When William Contreras was 17, he was put to work at an academy in Venezuela tracking down fly balls hit during batting practice for players between 13 and 15 years old.
That sort of workout is dubiously permissible, given the presence of representatives from Major League teams and the ban on signing players that age, but the practice is common. The spots are coveted. And William, then a player without a position, stumbled into what turned into his best shot.
“The scout saw him running back and forth tracking the balls, and he got the scout’s attention,” Willson explained. “The scout talked to the boss of the academy, and he asked him, ‘who’s that guy?’ He said, ‘That’s William Contreras, brother of Willson Contreras.’”
The scout, hearing that William was too old for the group, didn’t care. He saw him swing and asked if he could catch, and with little to no training, William displayed a pop time up to throw to second base in the two second range — right at Major League average, at 17, without proper technique. Absent a door, opportunity found the right window.
‘It was a great experience’
Eight years later, after having the chance to exchange lineup cards last season in their first matchups as opponents in the majors, both Contreras brothers appeared fifth in their respective teams lineups, set to catch. If each plays out his current contract and control with their new teams, Friday represents the first of approximately 65 potential matchups between the two as division rivals.
They’re still brothers, but William doesn’t need a tryout, and Willson doesn’t need to lend him any credibility.
“It was a great experience for us,” Willson said of last season’s matchups. “Especially knowing how far we’ve come together, and achieving the same goal together. It’s really cool.”
It remains to be seen whether that cool stays in place through dozens of potential matchups. That may in part be dependent on what happens with William’s next contract, and whether those dinner tabs get spread around.