Rivalry

Willson Contreras is not happy with the Milwaukee Brewers. Contreras has spent the overwhelming majority of his career in the National League Central starting with the Chicago Cubs, then joining the St. Louis Cardinals. That's meant plenty of opportunities to face the Brewers. And despite several changes in organizational leadership and roster construction for Milwaukee, and now a new league and division for Contreras, it seems like old wounds don't always heal.On Monday night against the Boston Red Sox, the Brewers started pitcher Brandon Woodruff, who's had the most run-ins with Contreras in the past. Their history stretches back years, with Contreras getting hit by a pitch several times due in part to Woodruff's proclivity for pitching inside, and Contreras' stance and swing, which take him closer to the plate.Well, Monday night they faced off again, Contreras got hit again, and he did not like it, to put it mildly. Contreras got grazed by a fastball up and marginally in, immediately got upset with Woodruff, went in hard at second to break up a double play later in the game, then continued yelling at the Brewers players and staff throughout the game.After the game? He was even more direct.After the game, which the Red Sox wound up losing 8-6, Contreras was blunt about his intentions should the Brewers hit him with a pitch again."They always say, 'I'm not trying to hit you.' That gets old," he told reporters after the game. "So next time they hit me again, I'm going to take one of them out. That's the message."Not exactly what you expect to hear in baseball, and what makes it even more bizarre is that Contreras' brother, William Contreras, is a catcher…for the Brewers. Does he think that his brother is signing off on his team's plans to repeatedly hit his brother on purpose? Has he not talked to his brother about this? For their part, Milwaukee's players have mostly responded by rolling their eyes. Outfielder Christian Yelich compared it to a play, saying "We've seen this skit for the last 10 years, it's nothing new."Woodruff said something similar, that Contreras is playing "a game" to get his team "fired up.""We’ve been through this – it’s, what, nine years for me? – it seems like every year," he explained. "He’s trying to play a game and he’s trying to get his side fired up. Once I knew what was going on, I wasn’t going to let it affect me on the mound. I knew I had a job to do."To be fair to Contreras, nobody likes getting hit, and he's been hit 24 times by Milwaukee throughout his career. But what's more likely, different front offices, different pitchers, are colluding to hit him on purpose? Or that it's a fluky result of two approaches that lend themselves to this type of outcome. Over the last decade, Contreras ranks third in MLB in hit by pitches, with a whopping 131, behind just Mark Canha with 133, and Anthony Rizzo with 164. His approach lends itself to getting hit, because he stands close to the plate and dives toward the ball. Up and in is also one of the areas where he struggles, as many power hitters do.So you have pitchers trying to attack up and in, and you have a hitter who dives in towards the plate. A recipe for exactly what we've seen. Boston and Milwaukee play again Tuesday evening and Wednesday afternoon, so there could be plenty more fireworks if Contreras gets hit and follows through on his threat.