Luis Eduardo Contreras (born April 29, 1996) is a Venezuelan professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

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for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2024.

Career

Puerto Rico Islanders

Contreras started his professional career in the

Empire Professional Baseball League The Empire Professional Baseball League (EPBL) is an independent baseball league that began play in 2016. The Empire League plays a 40-game regular season followed by a five-game post season. The four-team league consists exclusively of teams fr ...

, playing for the

Puerto Rico Islanders The Puerto Rico Islanders were a professional association football team based in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. They played in several different leagues from 2004 to 2012, when they suspended operations. In their last two seasons they played in the Nort ...

, and leading them to a league championship title in 2018 with a 3-1 record and 1.74 ERA over 57 innings.

Eastside Diamond Hoppers

After going unselected the

2019 Major League Baseball draft The 2019 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 3 to 5, 2019. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2018 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks ...

, Contreras signed with the Eastside Diamond Hoppers of the

United Shore Professional Baseball League The United Shore Professional Baseball League (USPBL) is an independent baseball league in suburban Metro Detroit, Michigan, United States, started in May 2016. Each team in the USPBL plays a 45-game regular season schedule from May through Sept ...

. In 5 games (4 starts), Contreras compiled a 2–2 record and 4.70 ERA with 39 strikeouts and one save across 23 innings pitched.

Milwaukee Brewers

On June 19, 2019, Contreras signed a minor league contract with the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

organization. He split the campaign between the rookie–level

Arizona League Brewers The Arizona Complex League Brewers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Arizona Complex League (ACL) and a Rookie-level affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Phoenix, Arizona, and play their home games at American Family Fi ...

, Single–A

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Grand Chute, Wisconsin, a town on the outskirts of Appleton in the Fox Cities, and are nam ...

, and Double–A

Biloxi Shuckers The Biloxi Shuckers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League (1964–present), Southern League and the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Biloxi, Mississippi, and are named in ref ...

. In 16 games split between the three affiliates, Contreras accumulated a 4–4 record and 2.86 ERA with 73 strikeouts across innings pitched. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Contreras returned to action with Biloxi in 2021, but only made 3 starts in which he logged a 5.19 ERA with 19 strikeouts. In 2022, he made 35 appearances out of the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if ...

for Biloxi and the Triple–A

Nashville Sounds The Nashville Sounds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, and are named for the ci ...

, compiling a 3.88 ERA with 73 strikeouts across 51 innings of work. Contreras split the 2023 campaign between Biloxi and Nashville, making 39 total appearances and registering a 4–3 record and 4.55 ERA with 90 strikeouts across innings. He elected free agency following the season on November 6, 2023.

Houston Astros

Contreras signed a minor league contract with the

on November 26, 2023. In 19 games for the Triple–A

Sugar Land Space Cowboys The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros Major League Baseball club. They are located in Sugar Land, Texas, part of the Greater Houston metro ...

, he recorded a 1.40 ERA with 20 strikeouts across innings pitched. On June 16, 2024, Contreras was selected to the

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

and promoted to the major leagues for the first time. On June 21, he was optioned back to Triple–A, without having appeared for the Astros, and briefly became a

phantom ballplayer A phantom ballplayer is either a baseball player who is incorrectly listed in source materials as playing in a Major League Baseball (MLB) game, often the result of typographical or clerical errors, or a player who spent time on an MLB Major Lea ...

. The following day, Contreras was recalled back to the major leagues. He made his MLB debut on June 23. Contreras made nine appearances for Houston in 2025, struggling to a 6.75 ERA with 13 strikeouts over 12 innings of work. Contreras was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must, within seven days, return the pla ...

by the Astros on August 7, 2025.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Contreras, Luis 1996 births Living people Baseball players from Maracaibo Major League Baseball players from Venezuela 21st-century Venezuelan sportsmen Major League Baseball pitchers Houston Astros players Arizona League Brewers players Wisconsin Timber Rattlers players Biloxi Shuckers players Nashville Sounds players Glendale Desert Dogs players Cardenales de Lara players Sugar Land Space Cowboys players