Brewers’ William Contreras Becomes 8th Pitcher To Win World Series MVP

by Arop KualOctober 30, 2026, 1:45 pm >

William Contreras has had a year he will never forget, from winning his home country Venezuela’s first-ever World Baseball Classic to winning the Milwaukee Brewers their first World Series championship.

Contreras became the eighth catcher voted the World Series MVP; he joined Gene Tenace, Johnny Bench, Steve Yeager, Darrell Porter, Rick Dempsey, Pat Borders and Salvador Perez as catchers to win the award.

“I don’t want to offend any of the other catchers in the league. The last thing I want to do is offend any of them,” he said through an interpreter. “But sitting up here today, champion of the world, I feel like I’m the best catcher in the league. Again, that’s no disrespect to any of them. That’s the last thing I want to do. But today I feel like I’m the best catcher in the world.”

Part of the small-market Brewers, the 28-year-old hit .381 while guiding his pitching staff; he threw out four attempted base stealers and won 10 of 13 appeals in the first series with the automated ball-strike system. He had a run-scoring double during Game 5 to clinch Milwaukee’s 4-1 victory.

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“He’s our pit bull. You don’t just walk up and pet him. There’s a chance you get nipped,” manager Pat Murphy said.

After being awarded the MVP trophy, Contreras embraced his 34-year-old brother, Boston Red Sox first baseman Wilson Contreras, who won the World Series in 2016 with the Chicago Cubs.

“My brother is my role model. I don’t have a lot of friends. He’s my friend,” William Contreras said. “If I have something to ask somebody, I ask Willson.”

Contreras teared up when talking about his home country, Venezuela. Contreras and teammates Jackson Chourio and Antonio Senzatela joined Alex Bregman and Luke Gregerson of the 2017 Houston Astros in winning the WBC and World Series that year.

“It means everything because that’s the first time Venezuela guys win the WBC and the World Series,” William Contreras said. “It’s history, history for my country. I love Venezuela. It’s my country.”

This season, Contreras hit .270 with 18 homers and a career-best 94 RBIs as the Brewers won their fourth straight NL Central title.

“Think about what he’s achieved, and he’s disappointed his numbers aren’t better,” Murphy said. “He’s disappointed that he isn’t Gold Glove.”

Contreras was the best when it came to ABS; he led Major League Baseball with 185 challenges and 105 overturns during the regular season. During the postseason, he won 22-of-33.

“It’s not magic,” Contreras said. “I think it’s the experience of playing every day throughout the season.”

Contreras showed up in big moments for the Brewers this postseason. He batted .444 with a pair of solo homers in the NLDS against the San Diego Padres, hitting a tie-breaking, seventh-inning drive in the opener and another homer in Game 3. In the NLCS, he batted .357 with one homer and three RBIs to complete the sweep over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“I told him before the game: You will be the MVP of the World Series,” Murphy said of Contreras. “People recognized what that kid did for us. There was no doubt in my mind. Yeah, he’s special.”