Exciting News for Willson Contreras, Red Sox Before Playoff Push

The Boston Red Sox slugger is currently on the Injured List.

Aug 17, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras (40) hits a home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the fifth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

If you're a Boston Red Sox fan who has been worried about first baseman Willson Contreras, it appears as though you can let out a sigh of relief.

Contreras was placed on the 10-day Injured List on Aug. 31 due to a left hamstring strain. Contreras has clearly been impacted by the injury over the last few weeks. The All-Star slugger hasn't quite looked like himself and he slashed .129/.206/.194 with a .399 OPS, zero homers and just one RBI over his last eight games before landing on the Injured List on Monday.

Fortunately, progress is already being made. On Wednesday, Contreras spoke about his injury and shared that he's "already feeling a lot better."

Willson Contreras Is Trending Up

Aug 26, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Boston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras (40) looks on from inside the dugout against the Miami Marlins during the third inning at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

“I’m already feeling a lot better," Contreras said, as transcribed by MassLive.com's Sean McAdam. "... Hopefully the 10 days are enough for me to come back… There’s a lot of time to heal up and to be better for the playoffs… If it were a situation where today was October, I could play.”

Contreras was placed on the Injured List on Aug. 31. That means that the 10th day would be Wednesday, Sep. 9. So, the earliest that he could be activated is Thurday, Sep. 10. Boston is off that day and will then face off against the Kansas City Royals on Friday, Sep. 11.

So, if Contreras is going to be able to return, while missing the minimum amount of games, it would be during the Royals series. If he returns ahead of the series opener on Sep. 11, he'll then have 15 games to get back up to speed fully before the playoffs arrive.

These next few weeks are going to be massively important for Boston. There's a lot of excitement right now around the organization with Roman Anthony and Trevor Story back and Mickey Gaper tearing the cover off the ball, but Boston isn't going to make a deep run without Contreras at full speed as well.

This is a guy who has seemingly been Boston's leader for months at this point. He has been the bat that carried the load when others went down and helped carry Boston through the worst point in the season. Boston needs him back, to say the least. And he gave the Red Sox fanbase a reason to be excited on Wednesday. He's trending up and Boston is going to be better for it.