One of the biggest issues the Chicago Cubs needed to address in the offseason was that of Willson Contreras‘ workload behind the plate. After the All-Star first half in 2018, we saw Contreras bat just .200, with an on-base percentage of .291. The wear-and-tear got to him and wasn’t able to produce when the Cubs needed him most.
Keeping Contreras fresh in 2019, to the point where he doesn’t start a catcher-high 123 games as he did in 2018, is critical. Many people, including myself, didn’t believe we had a valid backup catcher to accomplish this heading into this season.