“It will be a while” before Triston Casas is ready for a minor league rehab assignment, Red Sox manager Alex Cora told the Boston Globe’s Julian McWilliams and other reporters on Friday. Casas hasn’t played since April 20 due to a rib fracture and torn rib cartilage, and he is already well beyond even the broad 3-to-9 week timeframe Casas initially floated three months ago, though the first baseman noted that the nature of the injury led to a lot of fluidity.
In yesterday’s update, Cora said Casas was taking soft toss swings and is hitting off a tee, but is still dealing with some nagging discomfort in his side. Until that discomfort entirely subsides, Casas and the Sox can’t really move forward with any kind of concrete plan for even a steadier ramp-up, let alone any minor league rehab work. Cora did say that Casas would play again in 2024, but “we don’t know yet” when a return was feasible.
Casas finished third in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2023, and was off to a hot start (.244/.344/.513 with six home runs) in his first 90 plate appearances this season. Dominic Smith and several other players have gotten time at first base in Casas’ absence, but since nobody has been producing, it stands to reason that the Red Sox could target a first base-capable player at the deadline if Casas is still several weeks away from factoring into the club’s plans.
Some more unexpected later-season reinforcements could come from Trevor Story, who told reporters (including MassLive.com’s Sean McAdam) on Friday that he and the Red Sox were “having conversations about” Story getting back onto the field before the 2024 campaign is over. Both Story and Cora stopped short of saying that a return was in the cards, yet it is notable that Story has made such quality progress rehabbing what was thought to be a season-ending shoulder surgery in April.
“Just getting the strength back and getting the motion back…I’ve made a lot of really good strides there,” Story said. “It’s close, man. It’s close. Especially from how it was early on. It was not in good shape. It’s been a crazy turnaround the last month and a half and we’re riding that momentum.”
Story injured his shoulder while diving for a grounder in just his eighth game of the season, continuing what has been an injury-plagued tenure in Boston for the former All-Star. Since inking a six-year, $140MM free agent deal in March 2022, Story has played in only 145 games — UCL surgery cost him all but 43 games of the 2023 season, and wrist and heel injuries limited him to 94 appearances in 2022. Unsurprisingly, these health woes have led to subpar performance when Story has been able to play, as he has a modest .227/.288/.394 slash line in 598 PA in a Red Sox uniform.
Bryan Mata is also no stranger to injuries, as Tommy John surgery and a teres major strain sidelined him for most of the 2021-23 seasons. This year, hamstring and lat problems emerged to keep Mata again spending most of the year rehabbing, and now his latest rehab assignment has been halted due to right elbow inflammation. Mata was right at the end of the 30-day window for that assignment, though his latest injury now resets the clock and Mata will be able to start another 30-day rehab assignment when he is able to get back onto the mound.
Though he has yet to make his MLB debut, Mata is out of minor league options, leaving Boston in a bit of a quandary when it comes to his future. The Red Sox can’t assign him to the minors without first designating the right-hander for assignment and exposing him to waivers, so when Mata is finally ready to play, the Red Sox will have to put him on the active roster or go the DFA route.
While getting healthy has obviously been more important than the on-field results during Mata’s rehab work, he has a 4.50 ERA over 22 total innings for four different Red Sox minor league affiliates this season, with a 19.15% strikeout rate. It isn’t nearly the form that Mata showed in his past days as one of Boston’s top pitching prospects, and with another setback again stopping his progress, it is still a question about when or even if Mata might eventually surface as part of the team’s big league staff.
In other Red Sox news, the team was known to have been interested in Teoscar Hernandez last offseason, and the slugger said this week in an appearance on the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast (hat tip to WEEI’s Rob Bradford) that the Sox and Dodgers were the two finalists for his services. Hernandez said the Red Sox offered a two-year, $28MM contract, but he instead opted for a one-year, $23.5MM deal with Los Angeles.
“At the end, I thought [the Red Sox] were going to make it, but unfortunately they had to wait because they had to make some moves and other stuff,” Hernandez said. “I couldn’t wait any longer, so that’s why I decide at the moment to go to the Dodgers.”
Hernandez went into the winter seeking a three-year contract, but when neither Boston or any other suitor was willing to guarantee a third year, he instead opted for the one-year contract with the Dodgers, to allow for a chance at a rebound season and a quick return to free agency next winter. The strategy has worked out quite well, as Hernandez has hit 19 homers with a .261/.326/.476 slash in 406 PA for Los Angeles, and now has a much stronger case for a three-year pact as he enters his age-32 season.
Beyond the contractual logistics, Hernandez also admitted that the Dodgers’ win-now approach and track record of success further attracted him to the organization, though he was quick to note that “the Red Sox are really good right now and they have amazing players.” The Sox and newly-hired chief baseball officer Craig Breslow were often criticized for their relatively low-key offseason that didn’t see a lot of high-dollar splurges, yet Boston has a 53-43 record and is in possession of an AL wild card berth.
Bad feeling I have a better chance of playing 1b for Red Sox this year than Casas does…..
olm – All you need to do is visualize it ;O)
Realistically I’m thinking it will be September when he returns. When he does, I don’t anticipate his swing returning for a while. Honestly he might be better off if he doesn’t play the remainder of the year. Look at what happened last year when Story came back too soon.
I’d be curious to know if he’s doing a standard rehab, or if he’s doing his own thing as usual. Being flaky isn’t always a good thing.
Well if I do FPG.. no need for that right handed batter we need… on second thought.. never mind
olm – You have a better chance of winning the Eddie Haskell at Monmouth today riding Just Step On It.
You probably heard the Red Sox have the toughest post-All Star Break schedule in MLB. Last night was a game they should have won. Now they are facing two consecutive LHP which they’ve struggled against LHP all season … sure could have used Teoscar.
Don’t say they should have won when they only scored one run and were on the road. Could have won, yes. But they’re playing a team of all stars (ok, many injured) in their home park (ok, the fans might have gone home by the 8th inning). So it wasn’t going to be easy. They got beat by Ohtani and Freeman.
I have a better chance of the horse on MY back winning the Haskell( I have to give a watch thanks)yeah I saw about scheduling.. just a shame to waste a enormous outing by Nick… time to dig deep… next man up.z
hayzee – The Dodgers were in the middle of a massive slump. They lost 10 of their last 15 including 6 of their last 7.
But to fully understand why the Sox should have won, you’d need to watch the game.
Pivetta was extremely sharp. Just 2 hits allowed, zero runs, 1 walk, and struck out 8 including Ohtani 3 times!!! Pulling him after just 90 pitches was beyond idiotic, for several reasons.
1) He hadn’t pitched in 9 days
2) He was at only 90 pitches
3) Bernardino has been in a slump for the past month
4) Good chance they will need lots of BP innings today
5) Should have been Kelly for the 8th, Jansen for the 9th
Another reason the Sox should have won, they were pathetic with runners on base …. 0-for-11 with RISP!!!!
It was a very, very winnable game. Try watching the replay today if you can.
I don’t believe in the idea that you can throw more pitches because you’ve had more rest. But, I do agree with considering having him pitch the 7th inning. We don’t know the conversations between innings. Bernardino was clearly the wrong choice but I think it was set up that way. He is starting to hit the wall. That said, the game was a re-set for most. So recent performance is no longer so recent.
Fpg..Let it go.. its one game and give the dodgers some credit for showing up instead of putting this all on mistakes or problems with boston..last i checked 2 teams played last night and i could make a list of things that took place prior to the 8th that should have slanted things differently that had nothing to do with your list of 5
FPG, I’m up to my armpits in life right now, I can hardly stand to watch a baseball game. But you’re right, it’s the only way to know what’s really going on in the game. I grew up watching Tom Seaver and Luis Tiant win 1-0 games by throwing all nine innings. Not the same game.
olm – Chance of rain during the race, are you a mudder?
My mudder was a mudder, and my fodder was a mudder.
I have a feeling today will be a slugfest, but tomorrow I’ve got total confidence in my Okeechobee man Crawford.
hayzee – Sure it was set up that way. Bernie was brought in to face the LHB Ohtani, then intentionally walk the RHB Smith, then face the LHB Freeman.
It’s a classic example of Cora being so damn obsessed with L/L matchups instead of considering other aspects such as how well the pitcher has been performing and how good the hitter has been.
I mean it’s not just any LHB, it’s freakin’ Ohtani who has an .875 OPS against LHP this year. For Cora to think ANY pitcher has a L/L advantage against Ohtani is dumb, dumb, DUMB!
Same with Freeman …. sure he hasn’t hit as well against LHP this year but he’s still Freddie Freakin’ Freeman with a very respectable .805 career OPS against LHP!
I don’t view a 4-day layoff as some sort of magic transformation catalyst, I think injuries are the biggest factor as usual and the Dodgers have been decimated with injuries.
As long as they slug one more run than dodger blue I’m fine with… nice field today!! Good betting race.. pace makes race… give me Dornoch
hayzee – Sorry to hear my friend, hope life improves for you. I understand what you mean, hard to watch games with so much going on around you.
I know you’re a longtime fan and of course I totally agree with you how the game has changed. I appreciate your perspectives, even when I sometimes don’t necessarily agree with them.
Last night Youk was talking about how the game has changed, like one of the greatest homerun hitters in the game batting leadoff. And yep pitchers are incredibly coddled these days, definitely not the same game.
Take away Casas’ power and I get weird Carlos Quintana vibes here. I just don’t see Casas as the first baseman of the future. Maybe he should have been more responsive to their extension offer?
let – Hard to say without knowing any details of the contract offer, but yeah I’ve seen plenty of power hitting 1B flame out within a few years. His injury history is a definite concern, especially for someone so young.
So fever, do you believe when he said he was taking swings that he actually was, outside of team permission?
The whole taking swings in my head explanation days later just seems strange, even for him
GASox – That’s one of the many reasons I really enjoy your posts, you come up with excellent perspectives. I never thought of that, but it makes perfect sense that he could have been pushing himself to play in that Miami series and in doing so he could have re-aggravated the injury thus causing a setback.
I was originally thinking the opposite, that instead of following a traditional path to recovery he chose to spend lots of time on yoga, meditation, grounding, sunning, etc. I think both scenarios are plausible, but yours is more likely.
After all, Casas is known for his “unique” thinking, his stubbornness, and his tendency to not care about what others think or want him to do.
Casas looks like the next version of Nick Johnson.
rmull – Or Greg Bird.
People this is why you should never rush into longterm contracts with young players. Let them prove they can produce and stay healthy at LEAST over the course of a full season.
Hey now Greg Bird is killing it in the Mexican Baseball League. Yankees legend right there, and Nick Johnson was an OBP machine. So many Yankee legends!
acoss – Ever heard of Kevin Maas? ;O)
Fever,
Ah yes, another Yankee legend! He smashed his way to a potential rookie of the year in 1990, can’t remember the year, and then cratered. Good thing Yankees had Don Mattingly at the time, a much more superb hitter.
I wish these hitters would let pitch velocity work in the way Rusty Staub advocated. He liked facing hard throwers because he didn’t have to swing as hard to get the same result. These hitters today are more about velocity than quickness. Hitting is ALL about quickness, not swing velocity. Let the ball do the work. It’s physics, not physiology. You’re killing your body trying to hit the ball hard. No!
Can we talk about how huge it would be to get story back
Only if we can listen Count Basie play Corner Pocket. 😉
I’m almost thinking Casas and Story for next year. I suppose Story could catch fire with the bat because he’s capable but not expecting anything and I’d rather dance with the girl I brought to the party. Story doesn’t even have his makeup and dress on yet and that’s going to take a while even after he’s showered and given notice.
Aerosmith. With Michael Brecker. SOS.
Sorry the dance developed into something and I didn’t mean to go there LOL it just happened.
It’s like a lie. Each subsequent comment was there to cover for the previous and it just got worse and worse.
Red Sox are 22-11 since June 4th. Yet they are 4-8 in first games of the series, meaning they are often dropping the first game of a series, only to turn around and win the next 2. And against good teams too (NYY, Phi, KC, Atl). Lets hope it happens again in LA.
5-4 over their last 9 series openers. Too small a sample size to be concerned.
“Sample size” for what? If it was a big enough sample size, what is there to be “concerned” about?
It was just something I notice, I felt theyve been dropping a lot of first games and coming back strong afterwards.
There’s two ways of looking at this. It was a freakish injury and likely won’t happen again. Or, the high torque that caused it is part of his natural swing and thus will be a chronic issue throughout his career that will be more problematic as he ages. I suspect it’s going to be the latter.
Lord – Great post, I totally agree. Wouldn’t be surprised if Casas is yet another victim of the analytics crowd pushing a player to swing harder so he can hit more homeruns. He never had more than 20 HR in a year, then last year in the majors he hits 24 in just 132 games.
This is why I think he may never again be the power hitter he was last year, or he will re-injure himself trying.
So sad to hear a .244 start described as “hot.” Anybody else remember the streaks Brian Downing would start the year with? In comparison, Casas wasn’t even luke warm. Yes, he was showing power, but how can you be hot when not even hitting safely once in 4 at bats?
I’ll take a .244 with a projected 46 HRs. The league average average is only .242.
stymee – I know it was a long time ago, but if you take away just his first 4 games of the season ….. guess what his numbers would be on the season?
.286 BA
.384 OBP
.619 SLG
1.003 OPS
I think you’ve forgotten how drastically numbers can swing when you’ve played in only 21 games.
efron.ckirby.su.domains/other/Article1977.pdf
Stein’s Paradox in Statistics does a nice job in explaining small sample size results and their requisite credibility. Required reading for one of the Actuarial Exams back in the day.
The last 2 nights prove why the Sox need reinforcements, but I fear they will be an escape clause for Cheap John to say, “see we need to sell”! What a piece of garbage he is.
Broke a rib years ago and it was a year before I could take a full breath without discomfort. Granted I was in my mid 30s at the time but I Can’t imagine swinging a bat after just a few months.
Red Sox miss the postseason, but just slightly. Still a success over what they went through last year. I just think they lack a bit of discipline and experience.
Now bring in the whiners and complainers.