And Then There Was One

Willson Contreras’ Cubs career officially came to an end Wednesday when the free agent catcher signed a five-year contract with the Cardinals.  His departure leaves Kyle Hendricks as the last remaining member of the 2016 World Series champions to play for the North Siders.

Contreras first joined the Cub organization in 2009 as a teenaged international free agent.  He made his major league debut as a pinch runner on June 17, 2016 and, two days later, became the 30th player in modern MLB history to hit a home run on the first pitch of his first major league at bat.  Contreras made it on to the post-season roster and helped the Cubs end their 108-year title drought.

Contreras became the starting catcher in 2017 following the retirement of David Ross and the implosion of Miguel Montero’s Cub career in June.  In 2018, Contreras was elected to his first All Star team.  He replicated that feat in 2019 and 2022.

Contreras’ numbers in a Cubs uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

Career Batting

BA At Bats Runs Hits RBI Walks Strike Outs Doubles Triples HR SB GIDP Errors Games
0.220 177 22 39 24 19 58 5 0 10 2 0 9 52
0.256 2481 353 636 365 279 686 133 10 117 22 69 57 734

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