The Boston Red Sox were completely embarrassed by the New York Yankees in the American League Wild Card Series this week. The Yankees swept the Red Sox in two games, winning 9-0 on Tuesday and 9-2 on Wednesday. Boston is now eliminated from the postseason, while New York will play the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Division Series.
With two outs in the bottom of the second inning in Wednesday's game, Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a ball up the middle that Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story smothered on a nice diving play. There appeared to be a play at first base, but Contreras wasn't covering the bag, allowing Chisholm to reach. Luckily for the Red Sox, Contreras' misplay didn't come back to haunt him.
It's one thing for a player to make a defensive mistake once in a game. It's a whole other story if the player makes two defensive gaffes. That's exactly what Contreras did.
Red Sox's Willson Contreras makes defensive mistakes in Wild Card Game 2 loss to Yankees
Boston left-hander Garrett Crochet entered the game in the bottom of the sixth inning with the Yankees leading 2-1. Crochet got the first batter he faced, Spencer Jones, to strike out swinging. However, Jones swung at a ball in the dirt that got away from catcher Adley Rutschman, who was notably slow to retrieve the ball and throw it to first base, allowing Jones to reach first despite striking out.
Contreras was covering first base, but he was positioned on the back of the bag. It wasn't completely Contreras' fault that Jones reached first, but if he had his foot on the front of the bag and stretched to catch the ball, Jones likely would have been out.
Jones stole second base and reached third on a throwing error from Rutschman. He scored on an RBI single from George Lombard Jr. The Yankees scored five more runs in the inning, increasing their lead to 8-1.
It's worth noting that Contreras did his job at the plate Wednesday, going 2-for-2 with a home run and two walks. Unfortunately, his defensive gaffes are what's gaining more attention after Boston's rough loss.
After the loss, Contreras essentially told the media that he believes the Red Sox rely too much on data. Notably, the Red Sox pulled right-hander Sonny Gray from Wednesday's game after he allowed two runs on just 70 pitches over 4 2/3 innings.
"It's not enough when you have talent, or you have data, or you have computers telling you what to do, because this is baseball," Contreras said. "The data is here to help us, but at the end of the day, you need experience and veteran guys to win games. There's a lot of stuff I would like to say, but I'll state it like that."
Former Twins fan favorite Doug Mientkiewicz, a member of the Red Sox's 2004 World Series team, took a shot at Contreras and the Red Sox after the Boston first baseman's comments.
"How about cover first- or maybe one of your 15 coaches should say something," Mientkiewicz wrote on X. "Oh but they will shoot balls out of a tiny machine on a slab of turf though during pregame. Embarrassing."
How about cover first- or maybe one of your 15 coaches should say something. Oh but they will shoot balls out of a tiny machine on a slab of turf though during pregame. Embarrassing
— Doug Mientkiewicz (@DMEASrecruiting) October 1, 2026
Mientkiewicz played for the Twins from 1998-2004. The Twins traded the first baseman to the Red Sox at the 2004 trade deadline.
During his seven years with the Twins, Mientkiewicz hit .275/.367/.408 with 43 home runs and 266 RBI. After his stint with Boston in 2004, Mientkiewicz played for the New York Mets, Kansas City Royals, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates and Los Angeles Dodgers. He retired after the 2009 season.
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