Chicago Cubs: 3 players who must step up after slow start

Willson Contreras

First up is a player who was on the rise after his 2017 campaign. Catcher Willson Contreras emerged quickly when he made the leap to the pros. There were two things we knew right away when he made that jump.

Contreras showed his opposition that they would be foolish to ever test him. Run on Contreras, and chances are, you will get caught. It was that simple.

Second, he could absolutely crush the long ball and send fans into a frenzy.

Contreras hit 12 home runs in 76 games in his first season while hitting .282 and boasting a slugging percentage of .488. Last year, he smashed 21 out of the park in 117 games played while hitting .276 and slugging at .499.

2018 has been a different story. In 29 games, Contreras has hit just .230, slugging at .354 and — if you didn’t know already — has hit just one home run. If we are going off of last year’s production in comparison to this year, Contreras is on pace to hit just four home runs in the same amount of games.

Contreras is a young, fiery player who feeds off of the big moments. If the Cubs are to right the ship for good and start producing more consistently, a large part will be due to number 40.