Contreras' usage

[RWeeksFan23]

Anyone else concerned about the usage of William Contreras this season?

It's pretty unprecedented in this sort of load management era that we're in, in sports these days, for a catcher to play literally EVERY game.

I was pleasantly surprised the other day when him and Adames were originally supposed to have the day off, just to find out they were yet again, going to get another start.

Not many players these days start every day, ESPECIALLY not catchers. Even him playing DH the games he doesn't catch, shouldn't be an every-time thing either.

I"m really concerned he's going to break down at some point, and honestly he already has to some extent. I am too lazy to look up recent stats/game logs, but he's definitely been slipping at least a little bit offensively lately.

Just wanted to hear others' thoughts on this also.

[wiguy94]

19 minutes ago, RWeeksFan23 said:

I was pleasantly surprised the other day when him and Adames were originally supposed to have the day off, just to find out they were yet again, going to get another start.

What shocked me the most about this was Contreras went from not starting and Sanchez catching to Contreras catching and Sanchez at DH. How did that happen?

[sveumrules]

27 minutes ago, RWeeksFan23 said:

I"m really concerned he's going to break down at some point, and honestly he already has to some extent. I am too lazy to look up recent stats/game logs, but he's definitely been slipping at least a little bit offensively lately.

Anyone remember what game it was that he sprained his finger or whatever it was?

Just glancing at his game logs he was still at 359/434/553 (180 wRC+) over 196 PA through May 15th.

Over his last 84 PA since then he is at 215/262/329 for a not so nice 69 wRC+.

[Jim French Stepstool]

I never liked the idea of one catcher DHing while the other is behind the plate when they're your only two. I've softened on that somewhat since the standard four bench guys isn't very many & the options are limited. Maybe we'd see Contreras DH more if we had the traditional, defense-first backup C but that isn't the case here. Still, Sanchez is the guy they decided on for that role & especially with the heat coming Contreras needs to fill the DH role a little more often. And yes, a full day off needs to happen even if it's sporadic.

Don't want to change this into a position-change discussion because they're usually silly, but if Quero proves the real deal could we see a 1B mitt on William down the road?

[TURBO]

It was only a matter of time before he wore down, and that time is here.  

I don't know how anyone in the dugout didn't expect it to happen at some point.  By that I mean Pat Murphy.  

He needs a breather, and once that meaningless record is established, hopefully they can give him a 1 or 2 game rest.

[Playing Catch]

Even though the broadcasts keep talking about the meaningless record, I'm skeptical that the record has any bearing on the decision to play him.

I wonder if he's catching so much because of his "soft" skills behind the plate. I suspect that he is such a student of the scouting reports that the team relies on him to get the most out of every pitcher. If that hypothesis is real, I sure hope Sanchez can pick up some of those habits, because I agree that it isn't a good idea for him to be catching so often.

With that said, he started the season on an MVP pace. Did we really expect that to continue all season? Maybe what we perceive as him being fatigued is merely his regressing to the mean.