Source: MLB reduces Contreras ban to 5 games

ESPN News Services

Jul 9, 2026, 02:14 PM ET

Boston Red Sox first baseman/designated hitter Willson Contreras has had his suspension reduced from seven games to five games, a source told ESPN's Jesse Rogers, and he will be eligible to participate in the All-Star Game.

Contreras had appealed the suspension for his role in a benches-clearing brawl against the Washington Nationals on June 30.

Contreras will begin serving his suspension Thursday, meaning he'll have one more game to sit out after the All-Star break. He left Wednesday's game with a foot injury.

The 34-year-old slugger was named to the American League All-Star team as a replacement and he also will participate in the Home Run Derby if he's healthy enough to do so. He is batting .285 with 61 RBIs this season and has 20 homers in 306 at-bats, which stands just a few shy of the career best of 24 he had for the Chicago Cubs in 2019.

Contreras was originally suspended seven games for charging the mound after Nationals starter Cade Cavalli shouted "sit down, boy" at Contreras after striking him out looking with a full-count pitch.

The term "boy" has a racist history in the United States. Contreras, who is Venezuelan, demurred when asked after the game if he felt there was a racial component to Cavalli's word choice, adding that he plans to "let MLB handle that."

A few words were exchanged after the initial incident, and Contreras was stopped before he got to Cavalli, but he tried to throw his helmet over a group of players at Cavalli.

Cavalli also received a seven-game suspension that has been reduced to five after his appeal.

Washington pitcher Miles Mikolas (five-game ban) and Boston outfielder Nate Eaton (three games) were also disciplined for their roles in the brawl.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.