BOSTON -- Willson Contreras was the most productive Red Sox hitter the first four months of the season, but a nagging left hamstring prevented him from hitting like himself for most of August.
On Monday’s final day of the month, the Red Sox placed their ailing cleanup man on the 10-day injured list, with the idea of getting him back to full slug mode down the stretch.
And to fill the spot vacated by Contreras, the club was able to recall hot-hitting Mickey Gasper, who was told he was coming back to the Majors less than 24 hours after he was sent down on Sunday to make room for the return of Roman Anthony. Gasper batted second and started at first base in Monday night’s series opener against the Mariners at Fenway Park.
“I don't want to paint the picture that it's like something way worse happened. Just a recurrence of the same thing,” interim manager Chad Tracy said of Contreras’ injury. “The triple, [late in the second game of Saturday’s] doubleheader, a hard run there. It creeps up again. And he played [Sunday], and just with some irritation again. It’s just to the point where if we need to give him another few days to let it calm down, we're getting to a point where it's tough to be short bodies.
“Need the bat with Mickey, and to the point where it's like: How do we do this and try to get completely over the hump, let him have the rest he needs to get him healthy, so he's with us for the final push of 15, 16 games? And we got together as a group and talked about that and felt like that was the best course of action at this time.”
For Gasper, it was a whirlwind time for sure. He spent Sunday in New Jersey enjoying a home-cooked meal and mentally preparing himself to report back to Triple-A Worcester. But before it even got to dessert, Gasper was arranging for a flight back to Boston on Monday.
“I spent about 15 hours hanging out with my dogs and my pets, just hanging out at the house. Mom made a nice dinner,” Gasper said. “I was just relaxing, getting my mind right, just preparing for what was ahead of me. I watched the whole game, so I did see Willson come out [early]. But I was eating dinner and then I saw I had three missed calls from [chief baseball officer Craig Breslow], so I figured something was up. I gave him a call right back and got on a flight this morning.”
Tracy had said before Sunday’s game that telling Gasper he was going back to Triple-A was one of the most difficult work conversations he’s ever had.
The 30-year-old Gasper had spent time with the Red Sox earlier in the season and was brought back on Aug. 16 following the left hamstring strain sustained by Mastaka Yoshida.
Gasper responded by catching fire in the 11 games before Saturday night’s brief demotion, slashing .423/.595/1.115 with five homers and 12 RBIs.
How tough was it to hear he was going back down?
“I didn't take it one way or another,” Gasper said. “I've talked about it before. I try not to play GM. It's a tough job. Guys were coming back and decisions had to be made. I understood why I was the man out. I just wanted to know what I needed to improve for it not to be me next time. That's all I asked. 'How do I get better? And how do I stick here?' I understood why the decision was made. I could see how difficult a decision it was for them.”
How did the brass answer that question?
“Short-term, they told me I did my job, and that’s what they've always believed in me to do,” Gasper said. “Appreciative of that. And then long-term, it's been a similar thing for me throughout my career. Got to improve on defense. Got to improve as a catcher. Improve speed. Everything. I thought we were aligned in our thoughts, like I said, I got to keep getting better.”
And when Contreras returns, the expectation is he will be all better and ready to be the force he has been for most of the season.
“He's been the heart-and-soul of this team for the majority of the year, but also I believe that he’s been battling it for a little bit,” ace Sonny Gray said. “So I think that getting him healthy now is a great time to do it. I also think that we have enough guys in the locker room that can carry the weight and pick up the slack. And I don't think that that'll be a problem.”