Not bad for a guy who batted just .242 with a .649 OPS last season in the Class A Advanced Florida State League.
In addition to his career-best batting average, Contreras established new highs in on-base percentage (.413), slugging (.478), hits (151), doubles (34) and RBIs (75) while playing in 126 games -- his previous high for games played was 86 in 2013 -- for the Smokies. He also hit eight home runs, scored 71 runs and posted a vastly improved 62/57 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
While the Venezuela native believes that playing winter ball last offseason in his home country set the stage for the best professional campaign in his five-year career, he also credits the Cubs organization for giving him every opportunity to succeed.