Red Sox Have New Reason to Be Hopeful on Willson Contreras' Hand

Just keep crossing your fingers, Sox fans...

Sep 17, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Boston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras (40) leaves the game with interim manager Chad Tracy (17) after being hit by a pitch during the eighth inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Boston Red Sox could punch their ticket to the playoffs on Saturday, but health remains a bigger story with this club than the mechanics of a clinching scenario.

Ironically, as the Red Sox look to be locked into a first-round matchup against the New York Yankees, both archrivals are missing their best hitters. The Yankees placed Aaron Judge on the 10-day injured list with a calf strain on Friday, but the Red Sox are still waiting for clarity about Willson Contreras.

On Saturday, we learned that Contreras is at least somewhat on the mend after wearing a pitch to the left hand during Thursday night's game with the Texas Rangers. That's no guarantee of any time frame for a comeback, but it's definitely something positive to take from the day.

Latest update on Contreras sounds promising

Sep 17, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Boston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras (40) reacts after being hit by a pitch against the Texas Rangers during the eighth inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

According to Red Sox insider Ian Browne of MLB.com, Contreras saw an improvement in his condition from Friday to Saturday. That wasn't a guarantee that his hand avoided a fracture on the hit-by-pitch during Thursday's eighth inning, but Contreras sent a positive indication in that regard as well.

"Willson Contreras has more range of motion when he squeezes his hand today than he did yesterday," wrote Browne. "It remains a day to day monitoring for improvement. He is fairly confident it isn't fractured. He will do everything he can to play through this once symptoms allow."

Contreras homered on Tuesday in the series opener against Texas, giving him a career-high 27 on the season despite missing two weeks on the injured list at the start of this month. He's been the best hitter on the team by a wide margin, and ranks third among position players on the club with 4.6 bWAR.

It would be a big, big deal for the Red Sox to get Contreras not only back in time for that Yankees series in the Bronx, but to have a game or two in the regular season to tune him up. But it's still too early to know much of anything, and at this time of year, that's cause for plenty of nerves.