As the old saying goes, “like father, like son.” Well, that’s basically what the 30,825 fans who packed Daikin Park on Friday night witnessed for the game between the United States and Brazil. Joseph Contreras, a mere 17 years old who has never pitched beyond high school, fearlessly faced what is probably—on the field—the best baseball team in the history of the game.
Contreras, who is also the son of former star Cuban pitcher José Ariel Contreras and is about to enter the MLB Draft, came in to pitch in the second inning in relief of the veteran Bo Takahashi and pitched until the third inning, when problems with his command forced him to leave the mound.
He easily got center fielder Byron Buxton to pop out to center field, and after allowing a double to Brice Turang and issuing consecutive walks to Bobby Witt Jr. And Bryce Harper induced star Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge to ground out to third base for a double play. “Impressive,” Aaron Judge himself said after the game.
“At 17, I wasn’t doing that, you can be sure of that. He’s got great stuff, he was very poised on the mound throwing almost 100 mph to Team USA, guys I’d probably only seen on TV. It was impressive, he’s got great things going for him,” Judge affirmed.
Then, in the next inning, Kyle Schwarber led off with a single to right field, but then got third baseman Alex Bregman to ground out harmlessly to first base. After that, he issued another walk to Cal Raleigh and was replaced on the mound by the veteran Thiago Da Silva, who is playing in his fourth consecutive World Baseball Classic (the first three with the Italian national team).
“I was practicing for the chance, telling myself I had to breathe and make sure the moment wasn’t too big, but when the noise started I realized this was another level,” said young Contreras at the end of the game, also showing pride in the words Judge had for him and highlighting the emotional talk he had with his father José once he left the game.
To summarize his performance, Contreras pitched for one and one-third innings, allowing two hits and one run, while issuing three walks and striking out none. He threw a total of 33 pitches (13 strikes), averaging 97.8 mph. His fastball averaged 96.6 mph, and he also used his changeup, sinker, curveball, and cutter. Having exceeded 30 pitches, he was not be available for Saturday’s game against the Italians at noon (local time).