LOS ANGELES – Pat Murphy had bigger things on his mind on Wednesday, Oct. 14, with his Milwaukee Brewers getting ready to take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series. But some earlier news from the day really rubbed him the wrong way. One of his best players, catcher William Contreras, had seemingly been disrespected by being left off the National League Gold Glove finalist list.
Contreras led the major leagues with 1,085 ⅔ innings and 9.064 pitches caught, yet the three finalists at catcher were Freddy Fermin of the San Diego Padres, Gabriel Moreno of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Luis Torrens of the New York Mets.
When initially asked for his reaction to the finalists, and if he felt any Brewers players were snubbed, Murphy was blunt: “Contreras, he wasn’t in there? Contreras?”
“I’m biased. I get to see him 100-plus games catching. I think he caught the most games in the major leagues this year, and he was so important to us. They should come up with another award for William, because he’s been incredible. So, if he’s not on that list, ask for a redo,” Murphy said.
While some defensive metrics showed Contreras struggled in areas like framing and blocks above average, his overall impact behind the plate was huge. Brewers pitchers threw to a 3.32 ERA with him calling the games, and he threw out 28.4% of would-be basestealers. Murphy argued that catching is a position with so many things you can’t measure on a spreadsheet.
Murphy also touched on second baseman Brice Turang and outfielder Jackson Chourio being named finalists at their positions, but was clearly most upset by Contreras’ omission. Shortstop Joey Ortiz also missed the cut for the utility player finalists despite finishing with 15 outs above average and eight total defensive runs saved. Murphy defended Ortiz, saying he’s a great defender who would be hard to beat if given a everyday role. The manager explained he just votes for the guys he thinks are the best, and doesn’t try to play favorites or political games. In the end, he’s just plain ticked that Contreras didn’t make the cut.
