Chicago Cubs’ Willson Contreras will continue his hot streak

Chicago Cubs All-Star catcher, Willson Contreras, was the team MVP of Summer camp. Will he be able to carry that over to the regular season?

Chicago Cubs’ Willson Contreras has been on absolute fire since the start of Summer Camp. After mashing a couple of homers off of his Cubs teammates during the intrasquad games–closer Craig Kimbrel and No. 3 starter Tyler Chatwood.

Then he got to see pitchers from another team, and he did not disappoint. On Wednesday night against the Minnesota Twins, Contreras hit two more home runs along with a single before being replaced later in the game.

Contreras leads the team with a total of six home runs during Summer Camp. There is no question that Contreras is seeing the ball well right now, but can he keep it up when it matters?

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Out of everyone on the Cubs, the 60 game sprint of a season might benefit Contreras the most. Playing catcher is one of the more physically demanding positions in baseball and it takes a toll on guys. One of Contreras’s biggest flaws is staying healthy as he has had lengthy IL trips the last few seasons, because of the wear and tear that playing catcher puts on the body.

Contreras has statistically performed better in the first half of the season every year of his career to this point. In 2019, he led the Cubs with a .294 average and .965 OPS through 82 games. He also had 18 homers during the first half of last season that got him his second consecutive All-Star game start. Then when you look at the second half of the season, his numbers declined. He had a .238 average and a .756 OPS in just 28 games because of injures.

Looking forward to the 60 game sprint of the 2020 MLB season that begins for the Cubs on Friday, it could suit Contreras very well as long as he stays healthy. If Contreras can stay healthy, I believe that he will be a darkhorse NL MVP candidate.

The key, though, is staying healthy, he has proven when healthy he is one of the better offensive catchers in all of baseball. I wholeheartedly believe that Contreras will continue the hot streak he is on when the games finally start to matter on Friday night against the Brewers.