The Red Sox dodged an immediate worst-case scenario on Thursday night when initial X-rays on Willson Contreras’ right hand came back negative. The veteran first baseman was struck by a 92.3 mph sinker thrown by Jakob Junis during the eighth inning at Globe Life Field. Contreras immediately dropped his bat, shook his hand in intense pain, and managed to shuffle down to first base before doubling over as interim manager Chad Tracy and athletic trainer Dave Herrera rushed out to attend to him. He was lifted from the game for pinch-runner Isiah Kiner-Falefa.
Hand Injury and Negative X-Rays in Arlington
In the visitors’ clubhouse after the game, Contreras cut a frustrated figure, visibly shaken by a setback that arrives just four games into his return from a left hamstring strain. Because he has previously fractured the exact same hand, the initial sensation brought immediate alarm.
“Sore. Painful. My hand was numb for like five minutes. That was the reason I came out of the game. I have fractured, before, the same hand. It felt like a fracture. Thankfully, it’s not a fracture on the top of the bone. I’m just frustrated.”
Willson Contreras, Red Sox first baseman, via Yahoo Sports
Upcoming Testing and Frustration Over High Hit-By-Pitch Totals
While the initial medical imaging cleared Contreras of a break, the team remains cautious. As the Red Sox experienced in July when an initial wrist X-ray on Curtis Mead failed to reveal a fracture after a similar pitch impact, swelling can often obscure small bone fractures until the inflammation subsides. Contreras is scheduled to undergo additional evaluations on Friday in St. Petersburg as the team opens a three-game weekend series against the Tampa Bay Rays.
The latest scare compounds a stop-and-start season for the slugger. Since July 1, Contreras has missed 23 of Boston’s 69 games due to a suspension, a concussion protocol stint stemming from a July 31 hit to the head at Dodger Stadium, and the recent hamstring issue. Thursday’s incident pushed his season total to a career-high 24 hit-by-pitches, prompting sharp words regarding how pitchers attack him inside.
“He was trying to pitch inside like everybody else. A lot of people might say that I hit on top of the plate but I’m seeing a lot of players who hit on top of the plate that don’t get hit like me. If nobody does anything about it, I’m gonna keep getting hit. That’s the way I see it.”
Willson Contreras, Red Sox first baseman, via MassLive
Trevor Story’s Home Run and the Dugout Shift
The mood in the Boston dugout swung wildly within a matter of minutes. Interim manager Chad Tracy noted the emotional whiplash of watching a key player keel over in pain while nursing a 3-1 deficit late in the contest. Moments after Contreras exited, Trevor Story flipped the game by launching a decisive three-run home run off All-Star reliever Jacob Latz, driving in Wilyer Abreu and Kiner-Falefa to secure a 4-3 victory.
“You see one of our guys keeled over holding his hand and you’re down in the dumps seeing that. Moments later, the whole dugout erupts. We hadn’t been doing much offensively for a few days and to get a swing right there and feel like you steal a game, it was enormous.”
Chad Tracy, Red Sox interim manager, via Yahoo Sports
With just nine games remaining in the regular season, Tracy and the medical staff are officially listing Contreras on a day-to-day basis. Whether he clears the protocols and avoids a stint on the injured list will depend entirely on how the swelling responds during the flight to Florida and the subsequent clinical examination on Friday.
