Red Sox Announce Willson Contreras Decision Before Royals Series Finale

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The Red Sox announced a Willson Contreras decision before their series finale against the Kansas City Royals.

The Boston Red Sox got back in the win column Saturday with a 5-1 win over the Kansas City Royals at Fenway Park, snapping a three-game losing streak.

The Red Sox go for the series win in a game that has already seen the first pitch pushed back 90 minutes by inclement weather. The Red Sox send rookie left-hander Payton Tolle (9-6, 3.15, 159 K) to the mound against Kansas City’s 27-year-old left-hander Noah Cameron (9-8, 3.93, 145 K).

Before the game, the Red Sox announced a decision on one of their best hitters and team leaders.

The Red Sox reinstated Willson Contreras from the injured list Sunday, setting up his return at first base against the Royals.

Boston’s offense sputtered without its top run producer for two weeks, leaving open the question of how much a healthy Contreras can still add down the stretch of a tightening wild-card race.

Willson Contreras’ Injury and Road Back

The club announced the move Sunday morning, according to the team’s own social media channels, clearing the way for Contreras to start the series finale against Kansas City.

Contreras first left a game against the New York Yankees in the seventh inning on Aug. 30 with tightness in his left hamstring. Boston placed him on the 10-day injured list the next day, according to an official MLB.com transaction release.

He opened a rehab assignment with Double-A Portland on Friday, going 2-for-4 with two RBI as the designated hitter, then played first base Saturday, according to RotoWire‘s injury report.

That Saturday game briefly turned into theater. Contreras took exception when home-plate umpire Daniel Bytheway wouldn’t let him leave the batter’s box to apply more pine tar to the handle of his bat, so he stood through six pitches and struck out looking before flinging his bat toward the dugout, according to a report by theScore.

What Contreras’ Return Means for Red Sox Offense

Before landing on the injured list, Contreras was hitting .274 with a .900 OPS, leading Boston with 26 home runs and 79 RBI in 125 games.

Interim manager Chad Tracy has made clear how much the lineup missed him.

“He’s an important piece to the offense. Kind of like the aircraft carrier there in the middle,” Tracy said, according to MLB.com‘s Ian Browne.

Contreras arrived in Boston last December in a trade that sent pitchers Hunter Dobbins, Yhoiker Fajardo and Blake Aita to the St. Louis Cardinals, according to the Red Sox transaction ledger. The four-time All-Star has hit .260 with 198 home runs and 627 RBI across parts of 11 seasons with the Cubs, Cardinals and Red Sox since debuting in 2016.

Contreras also missed five games this season on suspension. MLB docked him seven games, reduced to five on appeal, after he fired his helmet toward Washington’s Cade Cavalli during a benches-clearing scrum sparked by Cavalli shouting “sit down, boy” following a strikeout.

He served the ban around the All-Star break. The episode fit a pattern for a player whose emotional swings have produced ejections in both Boston and St. Louis, including a bat toss last year that struck a Cardinals coach.

To open a roster spot for Contreras, Boston placed infielder Anthony Seigler on the 10-day injured list with right wrist inflammation, an injury he suffered swinging during Saturday’s game just days after his own recall from Triple-A Worcester.

Boston entered Sunday at 81-68, still fighting for the top wild-card spot with just over two weeks remaining.

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