Contreras' breakout season results in first All-Star nod since 2022

NEW YORK -- A breakthrough season in the career of Willson Contreras at the age of 34, started with a trade three days before Christmas in which the Cardinals agreed to send him to Boston.

The only question was whether Contreras would waive his no-trade clause.

Though the Cardinals were clearly embarking on a rebuild under new president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, Contreras had found a home in St. Louis for three seasons and built loyalty to that organization.

But something about the chance to play for the Red Sox in a city that is one of the few that could possibly match his own fire was drawing Contreras in.

He went for it, just as his close friend Sonny Gray had a month earlier, and Contreras made a change that he’s been loving ever since.

The fact that the right-handed-hitting veteran, who reached 10 years of service time earlier this season, made the right decision was amplified by the fact that he is an All-Star for the fourth time in his career, and first since 2022. Not only that, but he is headed to the T-Mobile Home Run Derby for the first time.

“It’s been amazing,” said Contreras. “I’m blessed, to be honest; that's the way I think. I think I made the right decision to come here and be with these special guys, and this is a special place to be. I know that the Red Sox are not playing the way they are expected to, and the fans expected, and I respect that, but it’s a blessing to be playing here.”

With Contreras the most consistent force in the team’s offense, the Red Sox are perhaps in the process of changing the narrative. They’ve won 11 of their last 13 games to pull back into the thick of the AL Wild Card race.

During those rough patches, the Sox seemed in danger of falling too far back to recover at various times this season. Contreras would usually lift them with a clutch hit or a big play at first base -- a position he has thrived at since converting to full-time from catcher the last two seasons.

As much as Contreras is loving life with the Red Sox, his teammates have embraced him as the engine that makes them go.

“I mean, it goes without saying, he’s the heart and soul of this team,” said Red Sox third baseman Caleb Durbin. “You feel his presence on the field, regardless of the production. He means a lot to this clubhouse, in the locker room, and obviously what he does on the field is huge.”

Huge enough that Contreras already has 20 homers, the same amount he hit all of last season, and just four shy of the career high he hit for the Cubs in 2019. Huge enough that Contreras has 61 RBIs, 19 away from the personal best he set last season.

Is this more or less what Contreras expected when he approved the trade to come to the Red Sox?

“To be honest, I wasn’t expecting anything,” said Contreras. “I was just like, ‘Let's wait and see how that goes,’ because I didn’t want to fill my head with a lot of expectations. But now that I'm here, I love it. We'll see what happens in the next few years, but I'll stay here for sure.”

With Contreras, you get a player who will consistently motivate his teammates while frequently getting under the skin of his opponents.

Durbin has seen both sides of it because he was with the Brewers last season. Contreras has had a long-running feud with Milwaukee that simmered over into a bench-clearing melee at Fenway Park in April, when he was drilled by a Brewer for the 24th time in his career. It’s one of three bench-clearing arguments Contreras has been part of this season, but who’s counting?

“Those are the guys you want on your team,” said Durbin. “You want the guys that people don’t like playing against. Obviously, I was on the other side quite a bit last year, so it’s a lot more fun being on the same side this year, and it’s been really cool just to see how he goes about his day to day.”

For those wondering who could possibly fill Alex Bregman’s role from last year as the leader on a young Boston team, Contreras has taken that on -- albeit in a different way.

“He’s trying to help everyone. He’s trying to win,” said Durbin. “He’s trying to get everyone on the same track, and that’s what a leader does. He’s got 10-plus years; four-time All-Star. He’s done it all and seen it all. He won a championship [with the 2016 Cubs]. He’s definitely a guy that everyone is leaning on.”

The veterans are equally respectful of Contreras, particularly Gray, who is having an All-Star-caliber season in his own right, creating a chance he could be added as a replacement on the AL squad before the week is out.

“Willson's been one of the best hitters in this league for about 10 years. People might not realize that, but just look it up,” Gray said. “I have all the confidence in the world in him. He's one of my closest friends that I've made in baseball. I respect the crap out of him, and he's a really, really good player.”