Contreras Down Again, and Boston's First Base Depth Is Now a Spreadsheet Exercise

Willson Contreras has a hand injury and is out again. That's the news. For a team already carrying 14 players on the injured list with 19 games left, it lands harder than it might anywhere else.

The timing is particularly grim. The beat piece from September 14th noted Boston had 23 games to figure out what Contreras meant to this lineup — turns out the answer came faster than expected, and not in the direction anyone wanted. He's one of the team's three All-Stars this season, alongside Ceddanne Rafaela, who is herself on the 10-day IL, and Aroldis Chapman. That's two of three All-Stars currently unavailable. The depth chart at first base now runs through Nick Sogard and Mickey Gasper, which is a fine answer in May and a stressful one in late September with a wild-card seed on the line.

Gasper, to his credit, has been genuinely good — posting an OPS north of 1.100 in 26 games, which is the kind of number that makes you feel better about the situation than you probably should. He's been the team's most reliable offensive weapon for weeks now. But he's a pinch-hitter by trade, and leaning on him as the primary solution at first base for a playoff stretch is a different ask entirely.

Boston is 72-71, holding the fifth AL seed, and the margin for error has been thin all month. The rotation is holding, the defense has tightened, and the team is playing exactly at its capability level — which is fine, until another piece breaks. This is another piece breaking.