Willson Contreras was hit by a pitch twice in the same game against the Oakland Athletics at Fenway Park on August 9, pushing his 2026 season total to 21 HBP. That number already makes him the third-highest single-season mark in Red Sox history — trailing only Don Baylor, who was hit 35 times in 1986 and 24 times in 1987. This stopped being bad luck months ago. It’s a pattern, and it’s only getting harder to ignore.
Two in One Game, 21 on the Season
The first plunking came in the second inning. According to the Boston Globe, it put Contreras on base and he eventually scored — though it wasn’t enough, as Oakland took the game 4-3 and won the series at Fenway. The second HBP came later in the game, closing the book at 21 for the year.
For context: Contreras totaled 23 HBP across 135 games in all of 2025. By August 9 of this year, he’s already two away from matching that with plenty of calendar left.
The Hit That Still Lingers: 95.4 mph to the Helmet
The most alarming moment in this stretch came on July 31, when Dodgers reliever Will Klein drilled him in the helmet with a 95.4 mph fastball — his 19th HBP of the season. Contreras was placed in the concussion protocol and didn’t return to the lineup until August 3. The two hits on August 9 were physically different — no protocol was activated and there’s no report he left the game — but the accumulation is real: two more in nine days.
Over his career, Contreras has been hit 131 times. The Milwaukee Brewers have plunked him the most historically, with 24 HBP — ten more than any other opponent. In 2026, though, the pattern doesn’t discriminate: everybody’s getting him.
The Bat Is Still Doing Its Job
Here’s what makes this story genuinely striking: Contreras has been one of Boston’s most productive hitters this season. His Statcast numbers heading into August 9 tell the story — exit velocity of 90.7 mph, Hard Hit% of 46.1%, wOBA of .403 and xwOBA of .389, with a Barrel% of 14.6, meaning nearly three out of every twenty balls he puts in play land in the zone where they’re almost always a hit or a home run.
He was named an All-Star this season and has led Boston in multiple offensive categories. Back in May, when he already had eight HBP on the ledger, he was slashing .259/.380/.467 with an OPS+ of 141 — 41 percent more productive than the average big-league hitter.
The HBP parade hasn’t slowed his bat, but it has forced him off the field at the worst times. Boston went 21-4 in July, and the last thing this team needs is its catcher getting knocked out of the lineup by a pitch — again. With two-plus months left in the season, Contreras is already a lock to finish among the Red Sox all-time leaders in this category. The real question is whether his body can hold up long enough to see October.
