Joseph Contreras is ‘just enjoying the moment’ ahead of MLB vs. Vandy decision
Nearly 20 professional baseball scouts congregate behind Blessed Trinity’s home plate with clipboards and radar guns.
A banner hanging off the press box waves in the afternoon breeze over the scouts: “HOME OF WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC PITCHER JOSEPH CONTRERAS CLASS OF 2026.”
Blessed Trinity and its opponent, Harrison, warm up on the field as pregame music blasts throughout the park. Contreras, standing at 6-foot-4 and weighing 195 pounds, is doing his own routine in the corner of right field.
The senior pitcher warms up with a water bag and a towel trainer before throwing a football, a softball and a baseball with his catcher. Then he starts his pregame bullpen.
Contreras attacks his pregame drills with professional focus and precision, which makes sense, considering who his pitching coach is. His father, former MLB all-star José Contreras, is with him throughout his routine. The 2005 World Series champion and Blessed Trinity assistant coach taught his son the importance of routine years ago.
“Routine is everything for me because I’m pretty superstitious,” the younger Contreras said. “I need to go out and do this, this and this. Then I can start thinking less on the mound, and I’ve got everything down.
“Now, it’s just go out and compete.”
Contreras did just that, leading the Titans to a 6-2 win with eight strikeouts, allowing seven hits and two earned runs in six innings pitched.
Contreras’ approach is one of the reasons — along with his 95 mph fastball and his filthy slider — that Team Brazil made him the youngest player in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Contreras was Brazil’s first call when it fell behind Team USA in the first game of the international tournament.
The 17-year-old took the mound at Daikin Park, home of the Houston Astros, before a crowd of 30,825.
“(My favorite part was) just standing out there for the first time in the anthems for Brazil and the USA and just being a part of something that basically is the biggest event,” Contreras said. “Just hearing each national anthem, everybody went crazy, and I’m like, ‘Wow, this is an atmosphere I could never dream of.’”
Contreras got Minnesota Twins star Byron Buxton to line out before loading the bases. That brought three-time American League MVP Aaron Judge to the plate.
Once again, Contreras’ preparation came into play. He leaned on his father’s pregame advice in the high-stakes moment.
“He was just like, ‘With big league hitters, don’t be psyched out because at the end of the day, they can smell fear. Just go out there, show no fear and just try to attack as much as possible and get ahead,’” Contreras said.
Contreras didn’t flinch. He threw a 1-1 fastball inside the zone and got Judge to break his bat and ground into an inning-ending double play.
Contreras kept his cool on the way to the dugout, high-fiving a few teammates with little emotion.
His father tried to stay cool, too, but no amount of big-league experience could prepare him. José admitted he shed a few tears watching his son take the mound.
“As soon as I saw the ground ball double play, I couldn’t react in the moment,” the elder Contreras said. “Everybody was like, ‘Yeah!’, but I was just so in shock.”
In fairness, it was a full-circle moment for José Contreras. Daikin Park is the same stadium where he won the World Series with the Chicago White Sox.
It was also special for Joseph’s relationship with his mother, Isabel, who was born and raised in Brazil. Isabel didn’t grow up around baseball like José did in Cuba, but she became a licensed expert in nutrition and massages to support Joseph’s baseball dreams.
Baseball is a much bigger sport in Cuba than it is in Brazil. But Joseph, who only speaks Portuguese at home, was happy he got to play for his mother’s country.
“She’s not only the MVP, but she’s everything for us because at the end of the day, my dad was playing for most of the time that I was growing up in childhood, and she was the one raising me,” he said. “She was the one who taught me to never settle for less, always keep getting more and more and more.”
That drive for more has served Contreras well in his young career. The Vanderbilt commitment is MLB.com’s No. 47 overall prospect and the highest-ranked draft-eligible pitcher from Georgia.
Contreras wasn’t always projected to be an elite prospect, but José knew his son could follow in his footsteps. José helped Joseph fulfill two promises he made him when Joseph was five years old.
He promised his son that he would become a pitcher and that he would be able to throw a 90 mph fastball by age 15.
Joseph loved hitting, but he did ultimately choose to pursue pitching in high school. The second promise seemed less likely, though — he weighed just 140 pounds at the end of his freshman season.
On his 15th birthday, he was disappointedly topping out at 84 mph.
“I was like, ‘Dad, you lied to me. You said I was going to throw 90. Come on,’” the younger Contreras said. “And then he was like, ‘Well, in 364 days, you’ll still be 15. You’ve got to work.’”
Six months later, Joseph Contreras threw a 90 mph fastball for the first time at varsity tryouts. A massive benchmark for any young pitcher, no doubt, but the father was quick to hit his son with veteran advice.
“I told him to enjoy it, but a lot more things are coming,” José Contreras said. “Do you know why? Because you’ve earned it.”
José Contreras didn’t make his MLB debut until he was 32 years old. He still managed to play 11 seasons in the major leagues.
His story has helped Joseph keep a mature perspective on his own career. In an industry focused on rising to the big leagues as soon as possible, Joseph is trying to take his path one pitch at a time.
“Just enjoy the moment, because at the end of the day, this is a great problem to have,” the younger Contreras said. “It’s like, ‘Oh, do I want to go to Vanderbilt, or do I want to go to the draft?’ Like, wow, what a heartbreaker.
“But it’s just enjoying the moment, because you don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow.”
About the Author
Jack Leo is a sports writer and reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Jack worked for the AJC throughout his four years studying journalism and sports media at Georgia State University and the University of Georgia. He's now focused on telling stories in the grassroots: bringing comprehensive coverage of high school sports for AJC Varsity.
