There's a lot going on with Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras at the moment. While Contreras has been Boston's offensive leader for the vast majority of the season, he's had a rough start to August (4-for-24 in 7 games), he's battled injury and illness, he got booed at Fenway Park on Saturday after not running out a ground ball, and he has reportedly, repeatedly declined to speak with media.
Red Sox manager Chad Tracy was asked about Willson Contreras and getting booed by the fans last weekend at Fenway. He assured the guys that all is good with the 1st baseman.@richkented @KenLairdWEEI @teddyjradio @heyrichhey @WEEI#RedSox, #MLB, #Baseball, #ChadTracy pic.twitter.com/fDHm9uZwCH
— WEEI (@WEEI) August 12, 2026
When interim manager Chad Tracy joined Rich & Ken with Ted Johnson for his weekly appearance on Wednesday, Rich Shertenlieb cut to the chase with one simple question: Is Contreras all right?
"He's OK," Tracy said. "I just think there's a lot going on with him, you guys. Like, I mean, you gotta keep in mind, a couple of weeks ago, he slams the ball off his foot. So he gets through that. He gets hit in the head in L.A. He gets through that. Then he gets sick. And in the midst of some of the stuff that came out about, oh Wilson doesn't want – it's like, this guy, at the end of some of those games, I'm pretty sure all he wanted to do was take a shower and go home and get in bed.
"He came back to us for those last two games and played, but certainly coming off of what he was coming off of, was not necessarily at 100 percent physically. He's gone through a lot, bumps, bruises. The guy posts, he plays. … I don't know if you can make a case for anybody that plays the game as hard as he does."
Tracy also reiterated what he told reporters postgame Saturday after Contreras didn't run out a ground ball, which is that Contreras had given him a heads-up pregame that he still wasn't feeling great and might not be able to give his usual effort.
"Those are things that, again, cases of things that our awareness in the locker room, you know, and not everybody needs to know all that stuff," Tracy said. "But our awareness in the locker room of things going on is much higher than other people have. That's why we don't blame anybody for reactions, but no, I think right now our main goal is to get Willson feeling good and get him swinging the bat the way he's capable. And when he does, and he goes on one of those benders, we can go again."
