Hold on to your popcorn! Contreras' HR sends kernels flying

BOSTON -- Get your popcorn ready when William Contreras steps to the plate. The Brewers’ 26-year-old catcher has been a must-see at-bat all season.

Just be sure to hold on tight.

Two fans clad in matching Red Sox jerseys and perched atop Fenway Park’s iconic Green Monster, Rachel and Michael Barna, had the popcorn but forgot to protect it when Contreras scorched a two-run home run in their direction during the third inning of Milwaukee’s 7-2 win on Friday.

Statcast can tell us the exit velocity and projected distance of the baseball -- 111.8 mph, 397 feet -- but the popcorn requires some guesswork. Let’s just say the Barnas’ bucket was hit hard, and flew far, when the ball ricocheted and sent kernels flying as Contreras circled the bases. It made for quite a highlight on AppleTV+.

“That’s a moment that I don’t think either of us is going to forget,” said Contreras, who met the pair after the game and autographed the bucket. “I told them if they want me to pay for the popcorn, I’ll pay with some tickets.”

Contreras and the rest of the Brewers’ hitters have had concessions-wielding bleacher bums on alert all year. As a team, Milwaukee entered the day third of MLB’s 30 teams in runs per game (4.98), sixth in home runs per game (1.2) and sixth in slugging percentage (.417).

The unquestioned MVP of the group is Contreras, who leads the Brewers in all three slash line categories (.337/.412/.538), plus total bases (107), runs (43), RBIs (42), walks (25) and extra-base hits (23). His average was fourth-best in baseball as of Friday’s final out at Fenway Park, and he was eighth among MLB qualifiers in OPS, all while starting all 50 of the Brewers’ games so far.

He’s doing all that as the primary catcher for a team that’s thriving despite having several members of the Opening Day rotation on the injured list at the moment.

“I faced him a lot at the [alternate] site in 2020,” said Brewers pitcher Bryse Wilson, a former teammate of Contreras’ in the Braves system. “And I promise you it wasn’t fun. Now I feel like he’s a much better hitter, a much better catcher.

“He’s a top five player in baseball right now. I don’t think there’s any question about that.”

Christian Yelich, who led the Brewers with three hits, scored twice and drove in a run, said this of Contreras: “You can just tell when guys can hit, truly hit. He can do that. He’s turned himself into a really good player, and it’s because he’s a hard worker.”

Friday was an opportune time for Contreras and Co. to provide ample run support. It was an “opener” day for the Brewers, with left-hander Jared Koenig starting and facing four batters before scheduled starter Wilson matched his career high with seven strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings.

The Brewers backed those pitchers by scoring three runs off Red Sox starter Kutter Crawford in the third inning, when Contreras sent his eighth home run of the season screaming toward that bucket of popcorn, and three more in the fifth when Yelich and Willy Adames short-hopped the outfield wall with consecutive run-scoring doubles.

“Everybody’s obviously got to respect William, but having ‘Yeli’ behind him really helps,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “And then ‘Yeli’ is hitting, and that helps everybody. … There was some good, hard contact, and we stayed relentless.”

They did it against a quality pitcher. Crawford entered the day with a 2.17 season ERA and had held opponents to a .176 average on at-bats ending with his four-seam fastball.

Against Contreras in the third inning, however, he misfired with a sweeper.

“The sweeper shape was not good,” Crawford said. “Just not a very good job by me.”

Said Contreras: “He’s been having a good year, but I think I had to take the mindset away from him and the success he’s having this year. The focus was on the plan and staying in the moment.”

For the Barnas, there was a satisfying end to the story despite their team’s defeat. During an in-game interview on Apple TV+, Milwaukee television analyst and former big league pitcher Tim Dillard delivered fresh popcorn, courtesy of the Brewers.

“I hope this makes up for your loss,” Dillard told the couple.