On April 6, the Boston Red Sox played the Milwaukee Brewers in what has been a slow start for the baseball giant. The Red Sox lost the game, but the press conference after the game had fans talking more than the score. During the press conference following a game in which he was hit by another pitch, Wilson Contreras stated that the next time a Brewers pithcer hit him he would “take one of them out.” [1] Following Contreras’s threat, the Red Sox made the interesting call to let him play in game two of the series. Contreras was not hit by another pitch in the series, but the question remains, should the Red Sox have let him play?.
MLB Rule 21 governs misconduct by MLB players. Violence and misconduct can include punishments of fines, ineligibility to play games, penalties, and other corrective actions.[2] The appropriate punishment is determined by the Commissioner of the MLB, and at his discretion.[3] Following the interview, no fine was issued, and the MLB took no action to address what Contreras had said. This is an interesting stance for the League to (not) take, considering the potential problems that could arise if Contreras had followed through.
From a liability standpoint, Contreras should not have been allowed on the field after making that threat. Had Contreras gone after the Brewers pitcher, the MLB would have had both a player conduct issue, and a potential battery lawsuit. In order for a battery lawsuit to be successful, there has to be the intent for the harm to have occurred. The threat by Contreras is evidence as a true threat against the Brewers bullpen. Had he followed through, that would have spelled legal trouble for the MLB. An interesting observation is that following Contreras’s statement the MLB did not take a stance or issue a warning. This begs the question of what the league would do should Contreras have rushed the mound. Importantly, the Brewers and the Red Sox do not play again in the regular season, so this could be the last of this issue.
However, while the Red Sox do not play Milwaukee again in the regular season, Contreras has been hit by a pitch 131 times over his career, with 24 coming from Milwaukee.[4] This highlights the potentially larger issue for the MLB, why have they not addressed this situation before? Of the 24 times Contreras has been hit by Milwaukee, 6 of those have been by Brandon Woodruff, the starting pitcher from the April 6th matchup.[5] This highlights a larger issue that the MLB needs to address from a player safety standpoint. Why have they allowed Contreras to continually get hit by this team with no consequences? An important caveat to this question is that earlier in Contreras’s career he hung over the plate, which would have gotten him hit more, however, he is playing farther back on the plate, and continuing to get hit. The MLB hasn’t addressed the problem at all.
Another question that the MLB will have to deal with is what happens if Contreras goes after a different pitcher. At this point, his threat towards the Milwaukee dugout demonstrates that he is willing to make the threat, which is a problem. The question for the MLB to answer is whether they will discipline Contreras should this escalate in a future game.
[1] https://www.nbcsportsboston.com/mlb/boston-red-sox/brewers-series-win-takeaways-2026/780781/?partner=yahoo
[2] https://content.mlb.com/documents/8/2/2/296982822/Major_League_Rule_21.pdf
[3] Id.
[4] https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/48417156/red-sox-contreras-left-fuming-latest-brewers-hbp
[5] https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/article/willson-contreras-after-being-hit-by-brewers-next-time-they-hit-me-again-im-going-to-take-one-of-them-out-131046642.html
Julia Hoffmann is a third year law student at the University of Buffalo School of Law. Originally from the West Coast, she has always had an interest in the cross section between the law and sports. Julia is a huge fan of hockey, and watches all things women's sports.
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