Boston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras is not someone who is shy about expressing his feelings. So when he talked about the team’s strategy after losing to the New York Yankees in the Wild Card Series, he didn’t exactly hold back.
At first, Willson Contreras pantomimed zipping his lips with a smirk on his face when asked about manager Chad Tracy pulling Sonny Gray from the game in the fifth inning. That silence, however, didn’t last long.
“We have to do a lot of different stuff and it’s not enough when you have talent or you have data or you have computers telling you what to do,” Contreras said. “This is baseball and the data is here to help us. But at the end of the day, you’re going to need experience and veteran guys to win games. There’s a lot of stuff that I would love to say but I’ll stay like that.”
During both losses to the New York Yankees, Chad Tracy pulled the starting pitcher with two outs in the fifth inning. In both cases, Tracy brought in left-handed reliever Erik Miller to face a Yankees lefty who had already faced the starter twice. The Yankees immediately scored both times.
In neither case, the starters, Payton Tolle and Sonny Gray, weren’t exactly struggling. They had each only allowed one run through 4-and-two-thirds of an inning. Tracy didn’t seem to have much faith in two pitchers who had a 3.03 ERA and a 2.72 ERA on the season, respectively. On Wednesday, Gray, who went 18-5 this season, was lifted after just 70 pitches.
Willson Contreras didn’t ‘have anything to say,’ while saying a whole lot
“At the end of the day, we can talk, we can share ideas,” Contreras added. “But like I said, I’m not making decisions. We (the players) are employees. We get paid to play baseball, and we play to be out there on the field to perform. That’s the bottom line. Of course, we can have some conversations. But, with the CBA coming up, that’s another thing that we have to keep in mind … As of now, no, I don’t have anything (to say).
“The only thing that I can control is my part of the game. Come here to work 100 percent and be out there day in and day out, taking care of my body. Create a good chemistry here with the guys. Support the guys. That’s the only thing that we can do, besides that, making decisions about data, about all the stuff we cannot do anything about it. Like I said, it’s here to help us. But at the end of the day, it’s not about data, it’s about executing the game plan.”
Sonny Gray also expressed issues with Red Sox management after the loss
“I think I’m the best pitcher in the American League going through the order the third time; I think that’s a fact,” Sonny Gray said after the game. “Yeah, I mean, I would have liked to live or die with me in that moment, but that’s the competitor I am. And, yeah, I think you can probably ask the guys and they felt the same way. I felt strong. I felt confident. I felt convicted. But what can you do, you know?”
Sonny Gray isn’t wrong about facing batters for a third time during a game. In 2026, the first time through the lineup, teams hit .243 off of him. The second time through, the average bumped up a little to .267. The third time through the order, however, teams hit just .180 off him in 2026.
Some pretty pointed comments from Sonny Gray about when he was pulled. Very emotional.
— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) October 1, 2026
Made a point to highlight how good he's been the 3rd time through the order. pic.twitter.com/xHTVId2iFJ
When asked if he hoped to return to the Red Sox in 2027, Gray simply replied, “I don’t know.”
When Sonny Gray was asked if the Red Sox were a destination he'd want to return to…
— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) October 1, 2026
"I don't know." pic.twitter.com/YBWE1SRZth