With Venezuela's flag draped around him, William Contreras was willing to boast after winning World Series MVP honors. "I don't want to offend any of the other catchers in the league," he said through an interpreter. "But sitting up here today, champion of the world, I feel like I'm the best catcher in the world."
Contreras became the eighth catcher to win the World Series MVP after lifting the Milwaukee Brewers to their first World Series championship. The 28-year-old hit .381 while guiding his pitching staff, throwing out four attempted base stealers and winning 10 of 13 appeals in the first Series using the automated ball-strike system. He also had a run-scoring double during Milwaukee's clinching 4-1 victory in Game 5 on Wednesday night. Manager Pat Murphy called him "our pit bull."
Moments after receiving the trophy, Contreras embraced his 34-year-old brother, Boston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras, a 2016 World Series champion with the Chicago Cubs. "My brother is my role model," William said. "He's my friend." Visibly emotional when asked about Venezuela, he noted that his country's team had won its first World Baseball Classic in March. He and teammates Jackson Chourio and Antonio Senzatela joined a small group to win both the WBC and the World Series in the same year.
Contreras hit .270 with 18 homers and a career-best 94 RBIs during the regular season, and he was the best at leveraging baseball's new robot umpires, leading the majors with 185 challenges and 105 overturns. He hit .444 with two solo homers against San Diego in the division series and .357 in the sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Teammates Cooper Pratt and Jacob Misiorowski also had strong Series performances, but Murphy said there was never any doubt. "People recognized what that kid did for us," he said.
Source: ESPN MLB · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing