Willson Contreras vs Walker Buehler

The Almanac's Take

Contreras at .291/.362/.922 with 22 home runs in 359 plate appearances is having a genuinely strong season, but the platoon edge isn't there — both he and Buehler are right-handed. Buehler's 5.36 ERA and 1.44 WHIP over 89 innings signal real vulnerability, particularly to the longball (12 allowed), which maps reasonably onto Contreras's power profile. The head-to-head is 17 plate appearances — too thin to weight heavily — though the 6 strikeouts and .176 average in that sample at least rhyme with Contreras's 26.2% K-rate against right-handers. The play here is Buehler's season-long struggles, not any manufactured matchup edge.

Career head-to-head

AVG

.176

3-for-17

PA

17

HR

1

K

6

BB

0

Pitches seen

71

Avg exit velo

91.6 mph

Career meetings in the Statcast era (2015–present). Even a clear edge over a handful of plate appearances is a small sample — read it as color, not a projection.

Pitch mix to the batter

Plate-appearance log

• 2026-04-05Field Out · Sweeper 81.4 mph · 77.9 mph EV
• 2026-04-05Strikeout · Slider 85.7 mph
• 2025-04-04Strikeout · 4-Seam Fastball 93.7 mph
• 2025-04-04Grounded Into Double Play · Sinker 93.4 mph · 75.5 mph EV
• 2025-04-04Strikeout · Sweeper 81.0 mph
• 2022-05-08Field Out · Sweeper 84.5 mph · 81.7 mph EV
• 2022-05-08Field Out · Cutter 91.1 mph · 98.7 mph EV
• 2022-05-08Single · 4-Seam Fastball 94.8 mph · 95.3 mph EV
• 2021-06-24Home Run · 4-Seam Fastball 95.2 mph · 101.4 mph EV
• 2021-06-24Force Out · Sinker 96.3 mph · 101.6 mph EV
• 2021-06-24Field Out · 4-Seam Fastball 94.0 mph · 95.3 mph EV
• 2021-05-05Strikeout · Sweeper 85.3 mph
• 2021-05-05Strikeout · Sweeper 84.8 mph
• 2021-05-05Strikeout · 4-Seam Fastball 95.6 mph
• 2019-04-24Field Out · 4-Seam Fastball 98.5 mph · 80.7 mph EV
• 2019-04-24Field Out · 4-Seam Fastball 98.0 mph · 97.5 mph EV
• 2018-06-28Single · Knuckle Curve 83.1 mph · 101.7 mph EV