All through the season, first baseman Willson Contreras has been the emotional coronary heart for the Boston Pink Sox. Nonetheless, he largely hasn’t been in a position to play within the month of September resulting from accidents.
He hung out on the IL resulting from a hamstring harm. That had been bugging him for a while, and the Pink Sox needed him to reset and get wholesome for the postseason. He did, however virtually as quickly as he got here again, he was hit in the precise hand by a pitch. That pressured Contreras to overlook a couple of week and a half earlier than DHing within the ultimate recreation of the season on Sunday.
Boston Pink Sox Supervisor Chad Tracy on Willson Contreras within the Playoffs
In the long run, Willson Contreras had simply two at-bats on Sunday. He’d go 0-2 with a strikeout earlier than Jahmai Jones got here in to pinch-hit for him.
It was a small pattern dimension, nevertheless it was one other emotional enhance that Contreras might present the Pink Sox. The postseason is right here and he’s wholesome sufficient to play. Higher than that, after the sport, Pink Sox supervisor Chad Tracy confirmed that he must be accessible for the Wild Card Spherical within the postseason.
“He was okay,” Tracy mentioned. “Took the primary one [at-bat]. Took the second. Had a reasonably good at-bat. Hit the ball arduous to 3rd and he was good. So, I obtained him out of there… Ought to be [good to go].
Getting hit on the hand is dangerous, with loads of smaller bones to interrupt. Fortunately, X-Rays confirmed that Contreras averted that, and was simply coping with dangerous swelling that made it arduous to swing a bat. He had beforehand been anxious about his availability for the postseason when describing it as a bone bruise.
“Yeah, there’s no fracture or something,” Contreras mentioned. “I had a CT scan yesterday simply to be sure that I don’t have any fracture, and it didn’t present any fracture. At this level, nonetheless irritation and a bone bruise.”
This comes at a time when the Pink Sox have been desperately attempting to get wholesome. Gamers like Adley Rutschman and Caleb Durbin are banged up however enjoying by means of it. Others, like Ceddanne Rafaela and Curtis Mead, have wanted to spend time on the IL.
Now, the Pink Sox will flip their consideration forward to the New York Yankees. The American League Wild Card Sequence will start on Tuesday, September twenty ninth within the Bronx. First pitch is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. EST.
It’s Been a Profession Season for Contreras
The irritating a part of the accidents for Contreras, apart from that it might price him time within the postseason, is that this has been a profession season for him. This is available in his first 12 months with the Pink Sox as he’s introduced a swing made for Fenway Park to Boston.
He’s hitting .276 with a .905 OPS. Contreras additionally has 27 house runs and 81 RBIs. That’s in a 129 recreation effort, and amounted to 4.5 WAR, per Baseball Reference.
Statistically, it’s Contreras’ finest season. His earlier excessive for WAR was 4.2 again in 2021. In any other case, he hadn’t cracked that 4.0 WAR mark earlier than. That was additionally a brand new single-season excessive for house runs and RBIs in his profession. So, possibly it shouldn’t be a shock that’s a career-record for OPS in a season, too.
The Pink Sox want that model of Contreras within the postseason. With out him, they’re going to be trying far and vast for his or her energy within the lineup.
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