Willson Contreras Casts Gloomy Outlook for Wild Card Series

Red Sox slugger Willson Contreras has missed the last six games with a hand injury.

by Ezra Lombardi

Sep 25, 2026

Boston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras (40) runs the bases during the game between the Rangers and the Red Sox at Globe Life Field.

Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox got a late season scare in Texas last week when All-Star first baseman Willson Contreras left the game following a hit by pitch.

Contreras was immediately sent for X-Rays on his hand, which turned up negative. The result was a welcome surprise for him and the team, and it seemed things were looking up in the following days as he waited for the swelling to go down enough to return to the field.

But things have taken another sudden turn, as a dejected Contreras told reporters after Thursday night’s game in Boston that he fears he may be unavailable for the start of the Wild Card series next Tuesday.

“I haven’t been able to hit back-to-back days,” he explained. “I swung the bat two days ago. Tried to swing yesterday, couldn’t swing. I tried to swing today and couldn’t swing. So we’re taking it day by day, putting all my efforts with the trainers on my hand to make it feel better. As of now, I don’t think I’m playing tomorrow.”

The Red Sox had originally indicated a plan to get Contreras back in for some DH at bats during the final series of the season, but it seems unlikely with the recent stagnation. Manager Chad Tracy added that the goal is still to get him back for the postseason but it’s doubtful he returns before then.

It would be a huge loss for a Red Sox team that has seen its bats go quiet in September with Contreras sidelined due to a hamstring and now the hand injury. The 34-year-old has been a revelation in his first season with Boston, ranking second in the American League with a .905 OPS and notching team-highs in home runs (27) and RBI (81).

The Red Sox still expect to face New York in the Wild Card series and will need their very best against the Yankees’ aces Cam Schlittler and Max Fried. Contreras admitted on Thursday just how heavy the possibility of not being ready to go next week was weighing on him.

“I was hoping to swing today, couldn’t swing. I came into my locker, tearing up. I’m being honest because that’s what we play for. We play to play in October. September, October.”

“I’m doing everything that I can to come back and play with the boys and be there with the boys, but sometimes you have to listen to your body. And I’m listening to the trainers. I’m doing everything that they ask me to do.”

“I’m an honest guy and if I don’t feel confidence in my hand to be able to play either Sunday or Tuesday, I’ll be completely honest with the team. I don’t want to hurt the team in any way… If I don’t feel good, I don’t want to take anybody’s spot.”

In his absence, the Red Sox would have to lean on some combination of Mickey Gasper (1B/DH), Nick Sogard (2B/1B), and Isiah Kiner-Falefa (2B/1B) to make up the right side of the infield. But Contreras’s bat is irreplaceable, and if he is able to go even in a slightly hampered state you would have to expect the club to take the chance on a player that has been the engine for most of the season.

The much-anticipated matchup between the bitter AL East rivals has now grown in its spectacle due to the unknowns. With injuries on both sides and starting rotations still in flux, the biggest question marks for next Tuesday will now be the health of the big bats in Contreras and Aaron Judge.