Boston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras exited Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays in the first inning after absorbing a 94.2 mph sinker directly off his right hand, leaving Boston’s most productive hitter in immediate doubt.
Contreras has been the offensive pillar holding together a Red Sox lineup that has struggled to score runs on a consistent basis through the season’s first six weeks, but his status is now uncertain heading into a series against the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday.
The Red Sox cannot easily afford another injury with the club already struggling for consistent production entering a critical inter-league stretch against the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves..
Contreras Exits After First-Inning HBP
The pitch struck Contreras during his first at-bat of the game, in the bottom of the first inning, and while he managed to take his base, Boston pulled him from the contest before the second inning began, Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald reports. Andruw Monasterio took over at first base.
The Red Sox are expected to X-ray the hand to determine whether any structural damage occurred, RotoWire reported. The Red Sox announced the injury as a “right hand contusion,” but further tests on the hand were expected, according to MassLive Red Sox beat reporter Chris Cotillo.
Contreras had been experiencing discomfort in his left hand for about a week. Now his right hand is injured as well.
The injury adds an unwelcome wrinkle to a Red Sox squad already navigating a thin and banged-up lineup. Outfielder Roman Anthony has been dealing with a wrist issue that prompted a specialist visit, leaving Contreras and Wilyer Abreu as the primary offensive engines on a team that has disappointed in the standings, to say the least, through the season’s first month and a half.
“He and Wilyer Abreu have carried the Boston offense while so many others have struggled, and Contreras has also continued to elevate his defense at first base,” senior writer Tim Britton of The Athletic wrote, naming Contreras Boston’s “April All-Star.”
Contreras’ 2026 Season and HBP Milestone
The 33-year-old Venezuelan-born slugger has been exactly what Boston hoped for since the December trade that brought him to the Red Sox from the St. Louis Cardinals. Through 38 games this season, Contreras is slashing .259/.376/.467 with eight home runs, 23 RBI, an OPS of .842 and an OPS+ of 139, meaning essentially that Contreras has hit 39 percent better than the MLB average.
The Sunday HBP also pushed Contreras to a statistical milestone he probably would prefer to avoid. With eight hit by pitches on the season, he is now tied for the major league lead in that category, sharing the mark with St. Louis Cardinals catcher Iván Herrera and Cardinals outfielder JJ Wetherholt, according to Red Sox Nation Stats.
Contreras was signed through 2027 as part of the five-year, $87.5 million contract he originally inked with St. Louis in December 2022, with a team option for 2028. Boston inherited that deal along with one of the most productive bats it could have added this offseason, a player who, as Britton wrote, has “matched and exceeded” what the organization expected when it brought him aboard.
Losing him for any stretch, even a short one, would place significant strain on a Boston lineup already operating without a full complement of healthy contributors.
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