{"id":572852,"date":"2026-02-14T21:41:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T21:41:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/572852\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T21:41:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T21:41:19","slug":"red-sox-newcomer-shares-whats-impressed-him-with-new-teammates-early-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/572852\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Sox newcomer shares what\u2019s impressed him with new teammates early on"},"content":{"rendered":"

FORT MYERS \u2014 Willson Contreras<\/a> feels right at home with his new teammates.<\/p>\n

The Red Sox<\/a> infielder came to Boston via trade<\/a> with the St. Louis Cardinals in December, and while sometimes it might take a new player time to get acclimated with a new clubhouse and new teammates, that wasn\u2019t the case for Contreras. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think what caught my attention was the chemistry that we already have in here,\u201d Contreras said. \u201cEven me, they made me feel like I\u2019ve been here for years.\u201d<\/p>\n

What exactly have the Red Sox done to make Contreras feel so welcome?<\/p>\n

\u201cTreat me like brother,\u201d he said. \u201cTreat me like they already know me. I\u2019m trying to be the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boston traded for Contreras to provide some stability at first base<\/a> after the team did not commit to Triston Casas for 2026. The veteran will also provide some right-handed power to the lineup<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Contreras was a catcher for his entire career until 2025 when he moved to first base with St. Louis. He hit .257 with 20 home runs, 31 doubles, 80 RBs and a .791 OPS in 135 games.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s likely Contreras will play a majority of the 2026 season at first base with some DH mixed in. Casas has been rehabbing from a torn patellar tendon that he suffered last May and it\u2019s unclear if he\u2019ll be ready for Opening Day. In October, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said it didn\u2019t make sense to say whether Casas would be the Red Sox first baseman in 2026.<\/p>\n

Eleven weeks later, Contreras was acquired. <\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s first, DH or even catching, Contreras said he\u2019ll play wherever he\u2019s needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a team player,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not going to say, \u2018I\u2019m not catching anymore.\u2019 If the team needs me and there\u2019s an emergency situation where somebody needs me to catch, I\u2019ll be there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT MYERS \u2014 Willson Contreras feels right at home with his new teammates. The Red Sox infielder came…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":572853,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2375],"tags":[67031,152,5,33017,141,48,2542,3194,4,89,2543,23725],"class_list":["post-572852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boston-red-sox","tag-2026-spring-training","tag-american-league","tag-baseball","tag-batting-cage","tag-boston","tag-boston-red-sox","tag-bostonredsox","tag-greenfly","tag-mlb","tag-red-sox","tag-redsox","tag-wilson-contreras"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116071162350246037","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=572852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/572853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=572852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=572852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=572852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}