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ANAHEIM, Calif. — Willson Contreras is unsure of what lies ahead. For that matter, he doesn’t know the timetable. But he knows this much: as long as he’s eligible to play while awaiting a chance to appeal his seven-game suspension for his actions during and after a bench-clearing brawl last Tuesday, he’ll focus on the task at hand.
“I’m looking forward to playing with my guys,” said Contreras as the Red Sox began a three-city, nine-game road trip Friday night. “We’re here, starting a new series with the Angels. We are looking to win for sure. We’re going to do our best to have three good games here in Anaheim.
“It’s not my first time going through the process. I’m not proud of it, but I can’t change the past.”
Contreras declined to comment further on the disciplinary action, saying he was advised not to discuss it further by the Players Association.
Contreras was given seven games and Nate Eaton three games for their actions. Eaton, too, is appealing and was in the lineup, playing right field. He, too, is waiting to hear when his appeal will be heard.
“They’re appealing and that’s it,” said interim manager Chad Tracy. “We’ll let that process play out and see what comes down the pike whenever it comes down the pike.”
Tracy said, in the meantime, the process won’t serve as a distraction.
“I think you guys know me well enough by now that I try to take it one day at a time,” he said. “You know it’s there and something can happen, but I try really hard not to think what’s going to happen three or four days from now. Let’s take care of today. Then we’ll take care of tomorrow and the next day and whenever that comes, we’ll take of that and get it figured out. So, no, I’m not letting it hang over my head. We’ve got to take care of today.”
The reality, however, is that even if he gets his penalty somewhat reduced, Contreras will have to miss some games and that’s an ugly reality for the Red Sox as they struggle to get back into the wild card race.
“Willson’s one of the best offensive players in our lineup,” said Tracy. “Whether it’s this situation or he got banged up and rolled an ankle or whatever, yeah, if he’s out of the lineup, he’s a big part of our offense. But I’ve been here two months and we’ve lost a lot of players. I keep telling you guys that it’s baseball and things happen.
“The game is going to go on and you’ve got to go out there with what you’ve got and you’ve got to put a competitive game forward. Just move on and play the next game. That’s all you can do.”
Tracy, too, declined to comment on the punishment specifically.
“I don’t know what went into it on their end,” said Tracy. “I saw what came down. I know there’s guys appealing. Obviously, they looked at video and determined that’s what they were going to do. I’m not sure what they saw and what went into that, but we are where we are.”
Tracy said when Contreras is ineligible, the Sox have Romy Gonzalez and Andruw Monasterio as candidates to fill in at first base.
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- Red Sox lineup: Willson Contreras, his suspension on appeal, still at first base
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