Contreras Plays Through Appeal as Bennett Gets Another Chance

Willson Contreras is in the lineup tonight against the Angels, and he’s doing it while his appeal is pending. That’s the deal: keep playing, keep competing, resolve the legal stuff later. It’s a pragmatic move from Alex Cora and Craig Breslow, one that acknowledges you can’t afford to bench a first baseman of Contreras’ caliber during a holiday weekend stretch. The Red Sox are already thin at the position with only Romy Gonzalez as a backup option, so sitting him would’ve been organizational malpractice.

What makes tonight genuinely interesting, though, is Jake Bennett on the mound. Bennett looked sharp against the Yankees—the kind of performance that makes you wonder if the Red Sox have actually found something in their rotation depth. Can he replicate that? Can he dominate a different AL West opponent? The Angels aren’t the Yankees, but this is a legitimate test of whether Bennett is trending toward being a reliable midseason option or if his last outing was fool’s gold. With Ranger Suarez, Brayan Bello, and Sonny Gray already doing the heavy lifting in the rotation, the organization needs to know if Bennett can be a fourth-starter type going forward.

It’s a night-owl game to start a holiday weekend—the kind of matchup that usually gets lost in the shuffle. But there’s real intrigue here if you’re paying attention. The Angels lineup isn’t scary, which actually makes this the ideal spot for Bennett to build on last time out. And for a Red Sox team that’s been searching for consistent offensive punch, getting emotional at the plate against a beatable opponent isn’t a bad way to close out the first half of July. Tuning in might actually be worth your time.