Willson Contreras nominated as Silver Slugger finalist after strong season
Willson Contreras’ strong offensive season was rewarded Thursday morning.
The 30-year-old catcher was named a finalist for the NL Silver Slugger Award at catcher.
Congratulations to Willson Contreras, an NL #SilverSluggerAward finalist!
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) October 27, 2022
Willy is the first catcher in franchise history to record four 20-homer campaigns. pic.twitter.com/wzQ10DjulX
Contreras finished the year with a .243/.349/.466 slash line with 22 home runs, 55 RBI, a 128 OPS+ (28 points above league average) and 47 extra basehits. He led NL catchers with a minimum of 400 plate appearances, in weighted runs created plus (132) an all-encompassing offensive metric where 100 is league average and each point over 100 is a percentage point above league average. Contreras was tied for second among NL catchers in home runs — only the Dodgers’ Will Smith (24) had more.
Smith, the Phillies’ J.T. Realmuto and Atlanta’s Travis d’Arnaud were the other finalists for the NL Silver Slugger award at catcher. Contreras has never won the award. The finalists are voted on by managers and coaches.
Contreras is eligible to become a free agent this offseason, but president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer mentioned in his end-of-season press conference that they would extend him a qualifying offer. That means if Contreras accepts it, he would be signed to a one-year deal at approximately $19 million. If he rejects it, he would become a free agent and if he signs elsewhere, the Cubs would get a draft pick compensation.
“We’ve talked to Wilson, we’ve talked to his representative, so I don’t want to make any assumptions there,” Hoyer said at the time.