The journey of Isiah Kiner-Falefa
When trying to decipher which players are worthy of adding to a roster, the analytics and analysis come fast and furious. Numbers. Measurements. Trends. They are all surfaced in trade discussions and free-agent acquisitions.
Sometimes, however, it's not all that complicated. Just ask the Red Sox.
Arguably, the two biggest position player additions made by the Sox this past offseason - Caleb Durbin and Willson Contreras - were elite in one category that the Sox certainly took notice of. Of all the hitters in the National League in 2025, Durbin was hit by the most pitches, getting plunked 24 times, with Contreras landing at just one fewer.
That's 47 times on base. As both players explained, it's not a terrible skill set to hang your hat on.
"It has always been a part of my game at every level, whether I liked it or not," Durbin said. "I think getting hit by a pitch is instinctual, and my instinct is to turn away and not necessarily get out of the way."
"To be honest, you can’t be scared of being hit by pitches," Contreras added. "Pitchers are trying to do their job, and it gets away from them. Sometimes it’s on purpose, but it happens."
It's a level of fearlessness the Red Sox haven't experienced since Don Baylor was hit 35 and 24 times in 1986 and '87, respectively. The next highest was Shane Victorino's 18 hit-by-pitches in 2013.
Last season, the team's hit-by-pitch leader was Jarren Duran, who was plunked 12 times. No other player on the 2025 club cracked double-digits.
So, who (and why) do Durbin and Contreras do it?
"For me, it just goes to my approach that I’m trying to stay everything in the zone," Durbin said. "I’m not trying to give up on any ball. I know how nasty pitchers are, especially in the big leagues. If a ball is coming at me, most of the time it breaks over the plate but some of the time it’s a heater and it stays straight. You just take it on the back and take your base."
He added, "I’m trying to do whatever I can to win the game. If that is a hit-by-pitch to get me on first base … I have had games where I get hit two times and those are the only two times I got on base. Whatever way you can get on base is kind of the idea."
"I think everybody misunderstands the way I get hit by a pitch just because of the way I hit," Contreras said. "When you load your arm, you don’t have time to get out of the way. I see some hitters who are on top of the plate, and they don’t get it. I’m a little farther away, but I get it."
Durbin, of course, only has the one big league season to draw from in terms of setting a hit-by-pitch tone. But, as he pointed out, it didn't appear that the opposition was intent on adjusting to his approach, given that he had two games in the final week of the regular season where he was hit twice.
And before hitting the majors, Durbin's reputation had already started to grow, getting hit 43 times in 294 minor-league games after being hit 26 times over his 96 collegiate contests.
Also making the skill even more impressive is that he is doing it while wearing minimal padding up and down his body.
"If I’m all padded up and I’m getting hit they are going to think I’m doing it on purpose. I’m not doing it on purpose," Durbin said. "I’m just trying to feel comfortable in the box. It’s a natural thing for me. Honestly, I don’t know how some dudes get out of the way from these pitches because they are coming in so fast. I’m so focused on hitting it when it’s over the zone that I don’t really think about getting out of the way."
Contreras has experienced the life of a baseball magnet for 10 seasons now, having accumulated the second-most hit-by-pitches of any active player since his arrival in 2016, at 129 (trailing only Mark Canha's 133).
For the righty hitter, there are some more memorable than others, including the final hit-by-pitch of his 2025 season. That was when Milwaukee's Jacob Misiorowski nailed Contreras in the back with a 101.4 mph fastball after giving up an Ivan Herrera first-inning home run.
"That," Contreras said, "was on purpose."
While getting hit by a 100 mph-or-better pitch isn't the norm for Contreras, having experienced it just four times, having to take one off the body from a Milwaukee pitcher was commonplace. He is quick to point out that the Brewers have hit him 23 times, far away more than any other club.
"They have hit me the most. I don’t know why," he said. "Every time I play them, I know I’m going to get at least one."
In the last three seasons, the Mariners have been the standard-bearers in taking advantage of being hit by pitches, leading the majors with 316 hit-by-pitches, 40 more than the next most-prolific team (the Mets).
Now, maybe it's the Red Sox's turn. Every little bit helps, as painful as it might be.