Chicago Cubs: Willson Contreras has been solid behind the plate

Contreras needs to step it up offensively

Despite posting solid defensive numbers, Contreras has been lackluster on offense this season. Contreras is slashing .249/.311/.423 with seven home runs and 34 RBI in 64 games. However, Contreras’ struggles run deeper than his slash line.

Diving deeper into Contreras’ numbers, one can see some troubling trends. Contreras’ walk rate is down from a year ago (9.2% in 2016 to 7.2% in 2017). Perhaps as a byproduct, his strikeout rate has climbed to 27% in 2017 from 23.7% in 2016. In addition to that, Contreras his hitting about 55% of the balls he puts in play on the ground. That number is slightly elevated from a year ago, while the 25-year-old’s line drive percentage has dropped to 16%.

Even though Contreras hits more balls on the ground this year than a year ago, he makes hard contact. According to FanGraphs, Contreras is making hard contract 32.2% of the time, which is virtually the same amount as last year.