Willson Contreras is one of the top prospects in the talented Chicago Cubs' farm system and the 23-year-old put that on display last season when he tore it up Double-A Tennessee. With question marks surrounding Kyle Schwarber's future at the catcher position, the door might be open for Contreras.
The youngster is ranked the No. 2 overall prospect in the Cubs' organization (as well as the top catching prospect in baseball), which largely had to do with his breakout 2015 campaign. He hit .333/.413/.478 with 71 runs scored, eight home runs and 75 RBI in 126 games at Double-A and also had a good year behind the plate with a .987 fielding percentage.
His performance at catcher is notable considering he entered the Cubs' system in 2009 as a third baseman. He didn't log a game behind the player until the 2012 season, but that's where he's mostly been ever since.
"The talent is there," Cubs' catching coach Mike Borzello said. "I mean, he's capable of doing anything that you need done back there."
If that's the case, his MLB debut could be nearing if he continues on his current path during the 2016 season. Chicago has Miguel Montero as their starting catcher, who is under contract through 2017, but his backups (Schwarber, David Ross) likely won't be there much longer. Ross will hit free agency after 2016 and Schwarber is splitting time between catcher and the outfield (he's not considered as an awfully good defensive backstop).
Additionally, the Cubs may rather have Schwarber focus less on mastering the number of nuances that come with the catcher position and instead work on further developing his impressive bat (he hit .246/.355/.487 with 52 runs scored, 16 home runs and 43 RBI in 232 at-bats with the Cubs last year).
Here's what Cubs president Theo Epstein said on the matter earlier this offseason:
"We've ended up taking a hybrid approach with him where he's come into camp he's going to play a lot of left field but we're not giving up behind the plate because he's working extremely hard there and shows some signs of being able to develop, even if it's at the big league level, which is a tough place to develop as a catcher."
Being that the Schwarber won't have a good opportunity to remain in the lineup on a daily basis if he were to be a full-time catcher, the Cubs want to make him more versatile so his bat can make an impact until Montero hits free agency.
However, if he gets comfortable in the outfield and improves his defense, Chicago could keep him out there and Contreras can slip in as the favorite to become the starting catcher of the future. Schwarber has yet to log a game behind the plate during spring training, while Contreras has recorded 27 innings in eight games and caught two out of three runners stealing.
Oh yeah, and he's batting .417/.563/.667 with three doubles and two runs scored in 12 at-bats.
Let's just say he's setting himself up nicely for the next couple of years.
