Willson Contreras left the Boston Red Sox's August 30 game against the New York Yankees in the seventh inning after his nagging hamstring injury acted up. The first baseman has played through it for weeks, managing his pain while staying in games.
But on August 31, the Red Sox made the difficult decision to place Contreras on the 10-day injured list, first reported by Chris Cotillo of MassLive. Mickey Gasper, who was optioned before the series finale to activate Roman Anthony, has been recalled to take his place. Gasper has primarily caught and served as the Sox's designated hitter this year, but he's appeared twice at first base.
Contreras has been fighting a lot in the injury department. Not only has his left hamstring been bothering him for weeks, he took a pitch off the head during Boston's series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. As much as the Red Sox need him, Contreras has earned his spot on the IL.
The veteran's many injuries might be preventing him from playing his best. Contreras is batting .212/.366/.384 in his last 30 games and some rest may help him find his groove again. He was batting .288/.396/.547 on July 31, the day he was hit in the head, and he's hit a career-high 26 home runs this year — the Red Sox need him healthy enough to keep adding to that number when it counts.
Red Sox place Willson Contreras on 10-day injured list as hamstring injury and others catch up tp him
Losing Contreras for any amount of time is a bad blow for Boston, but it's better to have him healthy for the postseason rather than slumping the rest of the way through the year. The Red Sox have two opponents coming up who aren't out of the Wild Card race quite yet, the Seattle Mariners (five games back) and the Baltimore Orioles (one game back). Then, they'll face the Los Angeles Angels and Kansas City Royals, two of the worst teams in the league.
The Red Sox did not expect Gasper to return so soon, as he wasn't eligible for a roster expansion roster spot because he'd been optioned too recently. Despite losing Contreras to the IL, the Sox should be glad to have Gasper back. He's fresh off the week of his life at the plate, during which he slashed .538/.714/1.231 with two home runs. He has five home runs in his last 15 games.
Hopefully, Contreras only needs 10 days on the IL and those days set him right. When he was at his best, he was one of the best hitters in the American League this season and the Red Sox need him if they hope to play deep into October.
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