Willson Contreras doesn’t do many things quietly.
It didn’t take long for the Boston Red Sox to find that out. In spring training, teammates nicknamed him Bowser, after the fire-breathing dragon from the Mario Kart series. In the first home series of the season at Fenway Park, he got into a shouting match with the Brewers, and his younger brother, William, a catcher for Milwaukee, had to walk him down the first-base line after he was hit by a pitch.
The Red Sox were sporting batting practice Bowser T-shirts with Contreras’ No. 40 shortly thereafter.
“If you play against me and you don’t like me, that’s fine with me, but at some point if we play together you’re going to love me,” Contreras said in early January, a prescient statement from the veteran player during his first media session following his trade from St. Louis to Boston. Contreras had to waive his no-trade clause this winter for the deal to be completed, noting his desire to play in Boston. “I play to win, I don’t play to mess around,” he said. “I don’t play to make friends on other teams.”
Contreras has lived true to those words and then some in skirmishes with the Brewers, then the New York Yankees, and most recently with the Washington Nationals, a benches-clearing fracas that erupted when Washington starter Cade Cavalli shouted at Contreras to, “Sit down, boy!” after striking him out.
The Red Sox are a young team, still searching for their identity and still reeling after a brutal start to the year, which saw manager Alex Cora and six coaches fired in April. Contreras, proud and passionate, has filled a void.
Willson Contreras landed in Boston after waiving his no-trade clause this winter. (Nam Y. Huh / Associated Press)
“He’s a tone-setter for us,” said third baseman Caleb Durbin. “And the confidence and swagger that he brings to the game every single day, we all feed off of that.”
But Contreras is not just the fiery leader of a club struggling for consistency. In the midst of a tumultuous year for the Red Sox, he is putting together the best season of his career at age 34.
His .285 average and .921 OPS mark career-bests. He’s already hit 20 home runs, matching his season total from last year. There’s little doubt he’ll surpass his career high of 24.
On Tuesday, Contreras found out he would replace Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on the American League All-Star roster. The following day, Contreras announced he would participate in the Home Run Derby. (That night, he fouled a ball off his foot, but later told reporters in Chicago that he was generally unconcerned, according to MLB’s Ian Browne.)
Contreras has stabilized Boston’s defense at first base, a position he transitioned to just last year. His intense style of play coupled with his powerful bat has resuscitated a Red Sox season on life support.
“How he plays the game, his presence in the lineup, what he can do with the bat, the power,” interim manager Chad Tracy said. “You want that in there with the defense. The example he is, because of how hard he plays the game, he means a lot to us.”
Contreras was suspended seven games for his role in the Nationals-Red Sox melee, though he has appealed the disciplinary action. As he awaits a decision, he has continued to raise awareness and money for earthquake victims in his native Venezuela.
It has been an eventful first half for the veteran, but Contreras has even bigger expectations for the second half.
“I think this year has been one of my most productive years, obviously,” he said. “But nothing has changed, just my mentality has been different.”
On May 27, Contreras played in his 1,130th career game. It marked exactly 10 years of service time.
After the game, Tracy, a longtime minor leaguer himself who never made it to the majors as a player, recognized the importance of the milestone and held a ceremony in the clubhouse. The lights dimmed and a montage of clips from Contreras’ career played on TV screens. Sonny Gray, a longtime teammate from their days in St. Louis, spoke and presented Contreras with a bottle of wine.
“I’ve only been here for four months,” Contreras said in a video shared by the team, “but it feels like I’ve been here forever.”
@redsox Congrats on 10 years of big league service, Willson! 🥹 #mlb #redsox #willsoncontreras #service #emotional ♬ original sound – Boston Red Sox
Of all his accomplishments, Contreras, who spent most of his MLB career as a catcher, views his 10-plus years in the league as his greatest.
“(The ceremony) kind of surprised me because I haven’t been here long,” Contreras said. “I was expecting somebody to say something, but not what they did and that was special. It was really emotional when you know where you come from and when you have people telling you you’re not going to make it, then you make it to 10 years. It was really nice.”
But health and longevity in the game, particularly for a player who spent most of his career catching and playing with as much intensity as he does, was no guarantee.
Five years ago, Contreras realized he needed to make some changes to his routine. He recognized he was getting tired more easily, and decided to start prioritizing a better sleep schedule. He aimed for eight to 10 hours of sleep, a habit he still maintains today. (When chief baseball officer Craig Breslow called Contreras in the middle of the day to inform him of his All-Star status, Contreras was asleep.)
Contreras also began reshaping his workouts to focus less on heavy lifting and more on agility, power and explosion along with rotational movements. Recovery after games became a necessity. He incorporated hot-and-cold water contrast tubs and Normatec compression boots to increase circulation, reduce swelling and help his legs recover faster.
“I have a pretty good idea of what I need to do to stay healthy and there are days you feel sore or heavy and those days you try to minimize the running, but I think that’s why I have a really good recovery routine,” he said.
“He’s a tone-setter for us,” third baseman Caleb Durbin said of Willson Contreras. “And the confidence and swagger that he brings to the game every single day, we all feed off of that.” (Charles Krupa / Associated Press)
Contreras’ hard play on the field mimics his intensity behind the scenes, something his young teammates have noticed.
“The preparation he has is amazing,” said Wilyer Abreu, who played with Contreras on Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. “He’s always ready and prepared for the game and the passion he has is amazing.”
On the field, Contreras revamped his approach at the plate by leaning into contact and putting the ball in play rather than striving for power. Counterintuitively, it’s led to the best power numbers of his career.
While he’s already matched his homer total from last season, he didn’t enter the season intending to do so. Rather, a new approach created better results.
“I hate striking out,” Contreras said. “I don’t like striking out even though I still do, so changing my mindset instead of looking for results, looking for contact is way better for me. When I think that way, I take good at-bats.”
Contreras’ 24.9 percent strikeout rate is his lowest since 2023. He’s barreling the ball 14 percent of the time, a career-best, and his 76.9 mph bat speed ranks among the best in the majors.
The contact-focused approach has paid dividends.
“It was something I tried this year because every starter we face is 97 to 100 (mph), for you to be consistent it’s going to be hard,” he said. “I’m a guy that always tries to look for consistency; there’s always six months to a season but I think the harder they throw, the shorter I have to be. I just need to make contact with the barrel and the ball will go. That’s the only thing I’ve changed this year.”
Contreras cannot control the second half. But he does have control over whether he stays in Boston for it. He waived his no-trade clause to head to Boston this offseason, and Breslow would still need his approval on any deal before the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
On a five-year, $87.5 million contract that runs through 2027 with a 2028 team option, coupled with his impactful season at the plate and in the field, contending teams will surely come calling.
For a surging Red Sox club finally finding its footing more than halfway into the season, trading Contreras would be a massive blow. The Red Sox are trying their best to avoid that scenario.
“We are not where we want to be,” Contreras said last week. “But of course, we are on a pretty good roll. This is something we wanted to feel during this season and it finally has come to us. We are hungry.”
