William Contreras Is Back To Lead the Brewers Down the Stretch

For the vast majority of the 2025 season, William Contreras hasn’t looked like the version of himself that finished fifth in NL MVP voting a season ago. However, the way his power stroke has progressed these past few months is a very encouraging sign for the Milwaukee Brewers and their offense moving forward.

Contreras experienced a full-fledged breakout last season and established himself as the No. 1 catcher in MLB heading into the 2025 season. Slashing .281/.365/.466 for a 132 wRC+ to go with 23 homers and 92 RBIs, that level of production became the new norm for Contreras.

But the 27-year-old backstop hasn’t seen nearly the same degree of success this season, specifically in the power department.

This is a player who hit 20 homers in 97 games with Atlanta back in 2022, 17 in 141 games in his first year in Milwaukee in 2023, and 23 in 155 games last season.

But in his 101 games from Opening Day through July 29, Contreras hit a total of just six home runs. While he’s evolved into a much more complete hitter throughout his time in Milwaukee, becoming less reliant on the long ball than he was in Atlanta, that drop-off in homers was somewhat puzzling.

Then, reports surfaced back in early May that Contreras was battling through a fractured finger on his catching hand. It wasn’t a new injury, as it was reportedly one that surfaced the year prior, but the pain was clearly impacting Contreras’ ability to get into his power the way he was in previous seasons.

In turn, Contreras has resembled that of a league-average hitter for most of the 2025 season. That is until the calendar turned to July, where he’s started to find his swing of old and has returned to the feared hitter at the top of the order that Brewers fans and opposing hitters have become accustomed to seeing.

As Contreras regains his power stroke, that not only goes a long way for his own confidence at the plate, but his slugging potential at the top of the order changes the ceiling of this offense moving forward.

The Power Stroke Is Back for William Contreras

On July 30, Contreras had a two-homer game against the division-rival Chicago Cubs. It was his first multi-homer game of the season and the first time he left the yard in over a month and a half.

From July 30 onward, Contreras already has more homers (seven) in 20 games than he did in his previous 101 games (six). It’s no coincidence that his hot stretch coincided with the Brewers winning their first 14 games in August, spotlighting just how important of a hitter he is to this offense when he’s doing damage at the plate.

Whether his finger has steadily improved or he’s simply getting used to playing through the pain, Contreras has looked like a brand-new hitter in several ways these past week weeks.

With Improved Bat Speed Comes More Power

In 2024, Contreras was in the 86th percentile in average bat speed at 74.7 mph. His mark this season has been noticeably lower, a clear sign of how his finger injury was impacting him in the box early on.

However, that number has climbed throughout the season, and it’s no surprise to see that coincide with improved power numbers:

From Opening Day through the end of June, Contreras had an average bat speed of 72.7 mph with a fast-swing rate of 28.2%. Since the beginning of July, he’s increased his average bat speed to 74.1 mph and has a fast-swing rate of 46.5%. Those are significant changes, and his power numbers have followed suit.

To no surprise, his increase in bat speed has had a direct impact on his exit velocities. His average exit velocity has trended upward in recent months, highlighted by his hard-hit rate that has increased by roughly five percent each month since May.

Last season, Contreras posted a career-high hard-hit rate of 49.5%. From Opening Day through the end of June, Contreras had a hard-hit rate of just 41.6%, a steep drop-off from where that number was in 2024.

However, over the past two months, Contreras has improved that number to a whopping 57.8%. That degree of improvement in his exit velocities has been instrumental for his turnaround.

Prior to his multi-homer day on July 30, Contreras was barreling baseballs just five percent of the time. That was exactly half of what his barrel rate was in 2024. Since that date, though, he’s improved that mark to 11.8%.

As a result of barreling the baseball more often, his slugging percentage is up over 200 points, and his ISO went from .113 prior to July 30 to .293 ever since.

The improvements don’t end there. Contreras has cut his whiff rate by nearly five percent since the beginning of August, he has a .282 batting average since the beginning of July after posting a season-low average of .217 in the month of June, and his wOBA has improved month-over-month since June as well.

It’s clear the pieces are starting to come together for Contreras. He’s always demonstrated a terrific approach in the box, that’s something he was continuing to do even in his down months this year. But he’s finally starting to pair that approach with the quality of contact that he’s been used to since arriving in Milwaukee, and the results speak for themselves.

Contreras’ Power Could Be the Difference

The Brewers hold the best record in MLB by four games (79-48), they have the highest run differential in baseball by a substantial margin (+162), and they’re top three in the sport in runs scored at 653, which trails only the Yankees by two runs and the Dodgers by four.

Yet, some still question whether or not this team has enough slugging ability to reach the mountaintop, and it’s a fair point to raise.

The Brewers rank dead last in MLB in barrel rate at 6.4%. On the season as a whole, they’re 19th in MLB in homers, 18th in ISO, and and 13th in slugging percentage. However, there was a clear uptick in this team’s slugging potential once Contreras regained his power stroke.

If you recall, the beginning of July is where Contreras saw a stark increase in bat speed, hard-hit rate, barrel rate, and other important power metrics.

From Opening Day through the end of June, the Brewers ranked 21st in MLB in slugging percentage (.380), 26th in ISO (.133), and 24th in homers (79). Since the beginning of July, they’re fifth in MLB in slugging (.450), 12th in ISO (.172), and 11th in homers (56).

Of course, Contreras isn’t the only player driving that success, but he’s sure been a big part of it.

Having his ability to deliver a big and decisive blow at the top of the order completely changes things for the offense. Fans saw the value of that last weekend when he hit a go-ahead two-run homer against the Reds with one out in the top of the ninth inning. While the game didn’t end in the Brewers’ favor, seeing him step up in that moment was an enormous takeaway from that contest.

Contreras can be a valuable hitter even when he’s not leaving the yard, but his ability to get that swing off in that moment is what makes him such a special player for Milwaukee. That is the type of player and type of swing the Brewers will need in October.

It’s clear to see how truly lethal this offense becomes when Contreras is doing damage with the bat, and how much power he is getting into come playoff time could very well determine the ceiling of this ball club when all is said and done.

Stats were taken prior to play on August 21.