WASHINGTON — After one start earlier this season, Kyle Wright’s words painted the picture of an experienced catcher, one with instincts and feel who helped guide a pitcher throughout a game.
He was not talking about a veteran but about 24-year-old William Contreras. The catcher whose bat has always been his strongest asset has improved defensively.
“I think it’s just about experience and maturity,” Contreras said through interpreter Franco García on Monday. “The more you’re able to be in those opportunities, the better feel you have for a game. Fortunately, I feel like the feel of that has been there, and I feel like it’s allowed me to be a good catcher defensively for those games.”
The experience part of this is perhaps most important: This season, Contreras has already caught in 17 games, with 16 of those being starts. Last season, he caught 49 times.
With Manny Piña out for the season because of a wrist injury, Contreras is set for much more playing time as Travis d’Arnaud’s backup.
After that aforementioned game, Wright praised Contreras. He said the young catcher has seemingly known when to walk out to the mound or when to say something in the dugout. He helped Wright slow down the game and execute their plan.
“It’s something that I didn’t do last year, but it’s still about experience,” Contreras said of this feel. “Knowing when to calm one of your pitchers down, first of all, you have to be calm yourself. And I think that only comes with time and experience, and seeing good games happen before you and seeing other players call good games and seeing how it all plays out.
“First, you have to be calm yourself, and you have to sort of be within yourself. Obviously, you’re a competitor. You want to give 100% of your effort and energy in every game. You want to be calm yourself and also just project that calmness onto whoever’s pitching.”
Contreras and d’Arnaud keep in constant communication, Contreras said. “I’m aware that not everyone has that really good fortune to have someone of that quality as a teammate and as a friend and as a colleague,” Contreras said. Before games, they always talk about the opponent, the game, catching and more.
Contreras’ bat forced the Braves to find him more playing time. His defense might be steadily catching up as he catches and calls more games.
“He’s got good instincts and talents,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “It’s just that these guys, it takes a while – especially as a catcher – to figure it out.”
Braves possess a deep lineup
We expected the Braves to field a deep lineup. Their offensive struggles prior to this winning streak seemed unfortunate, but this club always had the pieces.
Here are a few stats that illustrate that depth: The Braves’ Nos. 7-9 hitters have a .721 OPS this season, which is the fifth-best mark in baseball. The group’s 26 home runs are the most in the majors, while the 90 RBIs are tied for the lead in the sport.
This takes into account everyone who has hit seventh, eighth or ninth for the Braves this year. It’s everyone from Adam Duvall to Travis Demeritte to Guillermo Heredia.
It shows the roster’s depth.
“Early on, those guys were the ones hitting,” Snitker said of the bottom of the lineup. “The guys up top weren’t. That’s good. I love that, that those guys are on base for the top of the lineup, because those guys are starting to hit now, too. That’s a good thing, to have somebody in front of them all the time.”
One day at a time
The Braves arrived in Washington having won 11 in a row. This is their longest winning streak since they won 14 in a row in 2013.
But good or bad, baseball is a daily game.
“We don’t even worry about the streak,” Snitker said. “It’s about today, preparing for today’s game. It doesn’t matter what you did yesterday. Tomorrow’s a long way away. Every day is a separate entity in this job. It’s a new day, and you have to prepare as such.”
Since taking over as manager, Snitker has preached this to his team: “You can’t control yesterday. Tomorrow is 100 miles away. The only thing you can worry about is today.”
Braves should soon know more about Collin McHugh
Within the next couple days, Snitker said, the Braves should know when Collin McHugh can return to the club. McHugh tested positive for COVID last week.
In his absence, the bullpen has maintained its dominance.
“Our guys have done a great job,” Snitker said. “We’ve utilized the entire bullpen, pretty much.”
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