By every measure, Willson Contreras' first season with the Boston Red Sox has been a resounding success. The first baseman's energy perfectly matches the city of Boston, he's grown into a leader on this young Red Sox team and he can hit with the best of them.
Contreras' stellar offensive performance has thrust him into the conversation for the American League Silver Slugger Award at first base. For the second straight year, FanSided is partnering with Louisville Slugger to announce this year's winners.
Despite posting arguably the best offensive season of his career at age 34, Contreras won't have an easy time winning the Silver Slugger. New York Yankees first baseman Ben Rice will give him a run for his money.
Contreras is batting .281/.390/.526 with 21 doubles, two triples and a career-high 26 home runs. For the first nine years of his 11-year tenure in MLB, the first baseman wasn't a pull hitter, but he began changing his approach in the 2025 season, with a then-career-high 19.8 pull AIR percentage. This year, he turned it up to 11 with the Red Sox to tailor his swing to Fenway Park, which has paid dividends. He carries a 26.3 pull AIR percentage this year and all but two of his home runs have left the yard over left field.
Yankees first baseman Ben Rice is Willson Contreras' biggest obstacle en route to first Silver Slugger with Red Sox
Rice is slashing just .251/.350/.529 this season, with an average and on-base percentage a fair bit lower than Contreras'. But he's crushing Contreras in the home run category with 35 homers in 127 games — Rice has done a solid Aaron Judge impression in his long-term absence due to a rib fracture.
There's a possibility Rice is considered as a designated hitter for the award. Through August 27, he's appeared in 55 games as a first baseman and 69 as the DH. Voters get to choose the position they cast votes for if a player has appeared in multiple spots during the season, and since Yordan Alvarez is undoubtedly the winner in the DH spot (.322/.437/.614 slash line through 131 games), those who think Rice a worthy winner may vote for him as a first baseman.
If most voters select Rice as the DH, Contreras' biggest competition for the first base Silver Slugger is Pete Alonso, another division rival. Alonso is slashing .274/.362/.512 so Contreras has him beat there, but he's crushed 32 home runs this season, which the Sox first baseman can't match.
Red Sox fans will argue that Contreras deserves the award at first base for his combination of power and consistency, but that may not be how the voters see things — home runs are the biggest difference maker in games and they might be weighted more heavily. If Contreras doesn't win, it'll hurt when one of two division rivals does.
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