Willson Contreras Ejected Twice in Two Days. Teammate Says He Loves Being the Bad Guy.

The Red Sox are having a miserable season. They’re dead last in the AL East, and the only real energy they’ve shown came during a sweep of the Yankees that already feels like ancient history. Since then they lost two of three at home to the Nationals, and now they’re heading west to face the Angels.

But the guy providing the most fireworks isn’t a pitcher or a flashy trade pickup. It’s Willson Contreras, who somehow got himself ejected from back-to-back games against Washington.

Monday night he got rung up on a check swing, pantomimed the challenge call — you know, the little “box” motion with his hands — and the ump tossed him. Tuesday was uglier. After a strikeout, Nationals pitcher Cade Civelli shouted something at him that crossed a line. Contreras tried to get at him. Ejected again.

Two ejections in two days. That’s a statement, even if it’s not the one Boston wants making headlines.

Lance Lynn, who played with Contreras in St. Louis, says this is just who he is. And he’s not apologizing for it.

Playing the villain card

“When he’s enemy No. 1, he plays the villain card very well, and he’s not afraid of that villain card,” Lynn told reporters. “When he is your teammate, you like it. But when he is an opponent, it’s like ‘here we go again.’”

That pretty much sums it up. Contreras has always been wired hot. Lynn pointed out that once he starts to lose control, there’s no dialing it back. The emotion is the engine, and sometimes it runs the car into a ditch.

But here’s the thing. Contreras leads the Red Sox with 18 homers and 53 RBIs. He’s in his first year in Boston and he’s clearly the most dangerous bat in that lineup. The team stinks, and he’s still playing like it matters. That counts for something.

You don’t get thrown out of two games in a row because you don’t care. You get thrown out because you care too much, and you don’t know how to turn it off. Lynn gets it. The question is whether Boston’s front office can build anything around that fire before the season becomes a complete lost cause.