Contreras, who is more than three months ahead of schedule after rupturing his left Achilles tendon, was the one opening up more eyes from the simple standpoint of what he was doing. Not only was he throwing all of his pitches, but on several occasions he dropped his arm angle down and threw sidearm to test the injury.

His fastball had pop on it, leaving pitching coach Don Cooper saying, "The way he looked (in that first session), 'Hey, we could plug him tomorrow.' But we're not going to do that."

"It's incredible how I felt," Contreras said through an interpreter. "I've never really thrown a bullpen like that, (after) six months of not having thrown on a mound. I felt strong.

"Velocity, location was good, the slider felt good. I've never thrown as well as I did just now."

As for Colon, coming off offseason surgery to clean some bone chips up in his right elbow, he might be just a tad behind Contreras.

"Bartolo is coming back from a little bit of arm problems," Cooper said. "Jose is coming back from a leg problem, so you can see physically, stuff-wise, (Contreras is) a bit ahead."

Cooper was asked if he was being more deliberate in holding Colon back and responded, "I wasn't more deliberate. He was. We're letting him go at his pace. 'You do your thing, Bartolo. You're a veteran. You know what you're doing.' I told him he's not being graded on stuff."

If they continue doing well in live batting practice, the next step would be innings in Cactus League games.

As far as Contreras was concerned, however, manager Ozzie Guillen can go ahead and pencil him in the rotation come Opening Day.

"Before I got to spring training, I felt confident I would be with the team for the opener," Contreras said. "I told Ozzie. They said, 'Let's wait and see.' But once they saw me, how I'm working and walking around, they know I was serious."

What has Williams sleeping easier at night is the fact that if Contreras or Colon -- or both, for that matter -- cannot answer the bell come April 6, there are options with Clayton Richard and Jeff Marquez.

"We've got some kids here that have in their minds, and our minds, their time is ready," Williams said. "We'll let it play out that whoever is healthy come April 6, and ready to go, we'll figure it out. It's a lot easier to figure it out when you've got too many, versus not enough."