When the Red Sox struck a deal with the Cardinals to acquire first baseman/designated hitter Willson Contreras last Monday, they parted ways with a package of young pitching in the hopes that Contreras will be the answer at a position that has presented mostly question marks over the past several years.
Triston Casas, who turns 26 next month, had a strong rookie campaign in 2023, posting an .856 OPS (129 OPS+) with 24 home runs as Boston’s first baseman. But since then, he’s been hampered by injuries that have limited him to 92 games over the past two seasons.
Prior to Casas two years ago, the last qualified Boston first baseman to produce an above-average OPS+ (greater than 100) was Hanley Ramirez back in 2016 (126). Will Contreras be the answer as Casas works his way back from a season-ending left patellar tendon rupture last May?
Here’s a breakdown of what Contreras brings to the table in Boston and how it could shape the near future for the Red Sox at first base:
He’s been consistently good at the plate
Ever since he made his Major League debut with the Cubs in 2016, Contreras has been remarkably consistent with his performance at the plate.
In each season but one (2018), Contreras has been well above average offensively, with an OPS+ ranging from 106 to 138. He’s also belted 172 home runs — most of those came as a catcher, the position he played before an injury prompted the Cardinals to shift him to first base — but that would rank 12th among first basemen since he debuted in 2016.
Contreras’ hard-hit rate (49%) and barrel rate (13.9%) were each excellent, and he is one of the game’s elites when it comes to bat speed — his 76 mph average bat speed ranked in the 95th percentile among qualified batters in 2025.
He’s going from a tough park for hitters to one of the best
Busch Stadium, Contreras’ home park for the past three seasons, is ranked 18th out of the 28 Statcast-equipped ballparks (so not including Sutter Health Park in Sacramento and George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa) when it comes to Statcast’s park factor — a measure of how hitter-friendly a venue is.
The overall park factor for Busch Stadium is 100, meaning it is a neutral place to hit. For context, the stadium with the highest park factor — 113 — is, predictably, Coors Field in Denver. But the venue with the second-highest park factor? That would be Boston’s Fenway Park (104). Going from Busch to Fenway should be a boon for Contreras at the plate.
He’s pulling the ball in the air more — hello, Green Monster
With the Green Monster standing just 310 feet away from home plate down the left-field line at Fenway Park, it’s a big and inviting target for right-handed hitters. Contreras happens to be a powerful right-handed hitter who saw a pretty big jump in the percentage of balls he hit in the air to the pull side last season.
In 2024, 15.1% of the balls Contreras put in play were in the air to the pull side. In ’25, that figure was a career-high 19.8%.
Of the 20 home runs Contreras hit last season, 15 were pulled. It makes for an aesthetically pleasing spray chart if you’re a Red Sox fan when it’s overlaid atop Fenway Park.
Contreras is by no means a one-dimensional player. He made a remarkably smooth transition from catcher to first base with the Cardinals. In 2025, he showed great range, finishing with +6 outs above average (90th percentile). His arm strength also ranked highly (76th percentile), at 88.2 mph.
He’s no stranger to the bright lights in a venerable ballpark
While he spent the past three seasons with the Cardinals, Contreras spent the first seven seasons of his big league career with the Cubs. Playing for a club that hadn’t won a World Series title in 108 years, he helped Chicago break the historic drought as a rookie in 2016.
His home park was Wrigley Field, steeped in lore and tradition. His home city was Chicago, where they take their sports pretty seriously, to put it mildly. Going from mid-market St. Louis to big-market Boston and the oldest ballpark in MLB shouldn’t be a terribly difficult transition for Contreras, which means he might hit the ground running.
Not unrelated to that, Contreras’ 30 postseason games played will augment his abilities on the field with the experience of being under the bright lights of October.
