MLB WORLD SERIES: RAYS VS BREWERS

October 28, 2026

William Contreras

Tropicana Field

Milwaukee Brewers

Postgame 5 Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Congrats to the World Champion Brewers and the Willie Mays World Series MVP, William Contreras. WBC series champ, World Series champ. Amazing.

Q. William, just talk about your year winning the WBC and now winning the World Series. Does it get any better than this?

WILLIAM CONTRERAS: Very blessed year. I think a year that we have to give God a lot of thanks for everything he's been able to do for us. We worked very hard for this from the very beginning in Spring Training up until now. This is something, like I said, we just worked really hard for.

To be able to achieve it, it's special.

Q. You said you wanted to bring home two trophies to Venezuela. Was the MVP trophy a third goal as well?

WILLIAM CONTRERAS: Yeah, definitely. I think I was going to find one way or another to bring that trophy home with me for sure.

Very happy we're able to share this with the people in Milwaukee. Obviously now we'll be written in history with them and get to celebrate this with them. Again, very happy.

Q. It's such a young pitching staff that you have to guide. What were you able to do to get the most out of such a young staff, including Misiorowski?

WILLIAM CONTRERAS: Yeah, definitely. I think it's a big job. I think in the off-season last year, I think once we traded Freddy, I knew that was going to be -- we were going to have a young staff, like you said.

I took that upon myself and I knew the responsibility I was going to have that year to make sure that I built that relationship with those guys and make sure that they knew that they had that vote of confidence in me and knew I was going to do whatever I could for them so that we could build that relationship together.

So I knew it was going to be a big job, but credit to them for the tremendous year that all of them had.

Q. After trading Freddy, somebody had to step up as the ace, and Jacob obviously did. What about him and your relationship worked so well during the season and especially tonight?

WILLIAM CONTRERAS: I'm not going to say that me and Jacob are best friends, but I think we're really good teammates together. I'm someone that has been able to tell him things how they are to his face, and I think he needs that.

Jacob is still a kid. Jacob is still young, and he's still learning in his career. I've been able to tell him all year what he needs to hear, and I think that's good for him to be able to hear that.

He deserves everything that's coming his way. He deserves the Cy Young that's coming his way and all the success he had this year.

Q. Did Jacob with your help the last month learn to be more with location and to maybe mix where he didn't have the same swing and miss that he had for the first five months of the season?

WILLIAM CONTRERAS: No, he was focused for sure. I think we were focused. I think we set goals with each other from the very first day of the playoffs against San Diego, and I'm just very proud of what we've been able to accomplish as a team together.

Q. Do you think the Brewers success with you a central part, you winning the MVP on back of the WBC, will inspire kids back in Venezuela and more little kids will be playing baseball and want to follow your footsteps?

WILLIAM CONTRERAS: Yeah, definitely. I love this game. I love this sport. When I go out there, I give everything. I put my body on the line. I do whatever it takes to win because I love it.

So yeah, I feel the support from the kids back in Venezuela. I see the messages. They tell me that they love me, that they support me, and that means a lot to me. All the people back in Venezuela mean a tremendous amount to me. So I'm very happy what I'm able to accomplish for them and hopefully inspire them.

Q. How special is it to have your brother here? How cool of a moment to share that honor of being a World Series champion with him?

WILLIAM CONTRERAS: My brother is my role model. I don't have a lot of friends. He's my friend. I love him. I love all the support that he gives me. If I have something to ask somebody, I ask Wilson.

Again, he's my role model. I follow after him. I always knew that he was going to be here. He wasn't able to be here for the first couple games, but he was here for this one. I'm always going to follow in his footsteps.

Q. The bullpen was obviously a big reason why you guys were able to win it all. What do you think of what Aaron Ashby was able to do there this postseason?

WILLIAM CONTRERAS: Incredible. Ashby, I think he made history with 18, 19, whatever it was, scoreless innings that he did. He's my brother. All the guys that are down there in the bullpen are my brother. Ashby in particular, what's special about him is he throws one inning and he wants the next one and he wants the next one and he wants to keep going, and he wants to win.

Very thankful for him, all the guys back there in the bullpen. He deserves everything that he was able to accomplish.

Q. How are you so good at the ABS challenge?

WILLIAM CONTRERAS: I don't know. It's not magic. I think it's the experience of playing every day throughout the season.

Like I said two days ago, I don't care about the numbers, what I said about the media and those numbers. I just try to be the -- try to know that the ABS zone, sometimes they call it as a ball, but I know it's a ball, but I don't care if I lose because we have the challenge to use.

Q. How would you describe Pat Murphy's relationship with you, and why is he the perfect manager for the Brewers?

WILLIAM CONTRERAS: I love the guy. I love he's honest. I love when people are honest with me because I'm honest. You want to know more about me, you can ask my friends, my teammates. That's why they call me Pitbull.

I go out to play every day hard, and I love this game. That's why I play like that.

Q. I know you always talk about team, but is there anything you're proud of that you worked on? You're a total complete player, batting, defense, endurance, the ABS stuff, leadership. What are you really proud of what you accomplished?

WILLIAM CONTRERAS: I'm proud of everything: Hitting, ABS, blocking, throwing to the base, everything. I feel great.

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. 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.