The Red Sox announced this morning that they have placed first baseman Triston Casas on the 10-day injured list with a ruptured left patellar tendon. He suffered the injury during last night’s game. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow says that Casas will have surgery and they don’t expect him back this year, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive.
To replace Casas on the active roster, the team has selected Abraham Toro’s contract from Triple-A Worcester. Boston had an open spot on the 40-man, so no further corresponding transaction was necessary. In an additional roster move, the Red Sox reinstated Brennan Bernardino from the bereavement list and optioned Luis Guerrero to Triple-A.
The Casas news is awful but unsurprising. He suffered an obvious injury last night when he hit the first base bag awkwardly while trying to beat out a grounder. He was down on the ground in clear pain for a long time and eventually was taken off the field on a stretcher. It seemed likely that he would miss an extended period of time and that is now confirmed. He hasn’t yet been moved to the 60-day IL but that will happen whenever the Sox need a 40-man spot.
The Sox will have to figure out what to do about replacing Casas at first base. Breslow says that all options are on the table and he didn’t rule out Rafael Devers taking over, though outfield prospect Roman Anthony or infield prospect Marcelo Mayer are unlikely to be moved to first.
Devers is currently the full-time designated hitter after getting bumped off third base by Alex Bregman. Moving him into first base and opening the DH spot would help the club with some roster crunches elsewhere.
Anthony and Mayer are two of the best prospects in baseball, but both are currently in Triple-A and somewhat blocked on the big league roster. The Sox currently have an outfield mix consisting of Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, Ceddanne Rafaela and Rob Refsnyder. The infield has Bregman, Trevor Story and Kristian Campbell at third base, shortstop and second base respectively. Outfielder/designated hitter Masataka Yoshida could get into the mix as well, though he has been battling ongoing shoulder problems and his return timeline is unclear.
With Devers in the DH spot, it’s a bit of a crowded picture. If he were to take over at first base, that would open things up and allow various players to rotate through the DH spot. Devers has no professional experience at first but plenty of subpar third basemen have made the move across the diamond over the years. While Breslow seemed to leave the door open to the idea, manager Alex Cora downplayed the possibility. “From my end, right now, no…. he’s my DH,” Cora said, per Alex Speier of The Boston Globe.
For now, it seems like utility infielder Romy González will be the first attempt. Cora tells Speier that this is an opportunity for González “to go out and perform.” He is the only Boston player apart from Casas to have played first base this year. He’s having a decent season so far, with a .279/.340/.419 batting line and 113 wRC+. However, that comes with no home runs and a .364 batting average on balls in play. In his 502 career plate appearances, he has a .246/.277/.390 line and 81 wRC+.
That career production would be less than ideal production from first base, which is generally a bat-first position, but the Sox will give it a try for now. Perhaps they will explore some external options in the coming weeks, looking to make a trade or grab another player off waivers. Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe says that Breslow is indeed looking at the trade market.
González had previously been in a multi-positional role, having also played some second and third base this year. In his career, he has played shortstop and the outfield as well. With him set to become the club’s regular first baseman for now, Toro has been added to add some defensive versatility to the bench.
Toro, 28, signed a minor league deal with the Sox in the offseason. He has been performing well in Triple-A so far this year, with a .310/.403/.480 line, though a .392 BABIP is doing him some favors. In his big league career, he has played the three non-shortstop infield positions and the outfield corners. He has always hit well in Triple-A but has a .220/.285/.353 line and 82 wRC+ in 1,298 big league plate appearances.
Photo courtesy of Eric Canha, Imagn Images
Who’s Triston Cason?
maybe Binelas or grissem at first
Actual Mayers did play some spring training there.
Is Grissom already on the 40 man roster? If so, I’m surprised they didn’t bring him up over Toro. They need to keep that open 40 man spot for the promotion of Mayer or Anthony. Then again, once they move Casas to the 60 day IL, they will open up another spot, but it would have been nice to keep that extra spot open.
Because Toro doubles as a riding lawnmower.
Dorothy, i think the reason you dont see grissom is thr club sees him as a trade piece. If he rebuilds value in AAA and rakes he may net somethng as part of the deal.
You call grissom up and he flops, again, hes woeth nothing.
Grissom ain’t going anywhere if he can’t prove himself in the Majors. He’s already raked at AAA. He’s already going nowhere playing in the Minors. He’s seen as an AAAA player unless he plays
Johnny Casons sidekick?
That explains why Triston Dalbec isn’t hitting.
It does not explain why they didn’t send him to Seattle for a Starting Pitcher like I said to do a year ago
They reportedly were trying to make a deal for Castillo but Seattle was not interested in Casas.
I would never have traded Casas for Castillo.
Yoshida was in that deal as well. M’s lucked out.
No they wanted one of the better pitchers for casas plus, but Seattle balked and offered Castillo, but Boston wanted them to eat yoshidas contract to do that.
Tang, that’s the way I remember it. As for now, either a big move is coming or more likely, the return of Dom Smith to platoon with Gonzalez until Yoshida is ready. Then other moves can be made assuming the Sox haven’t collapsed.
Seattle wasn’t giving up Gilbert, Kirby, Woo, or Miller for him.
Gilbert, Woo, Miller, and Kirby were never an option for Boston
Hence the plus part
LOL… Seattle didn’t want him and we know why. “Like I said” – that’s funny.
They tried to do this, and Seattle (wisely) said no. Can’t fault Breslow for that one.
Yeah it looks like Casas is sadly another one for the long list of players who showed potential that were ruined by injuries
He was healthy until yesterday but still hit as though he were unhealthy.
He’s always a slow starter and statistically doesn’t perform well in cold whether. Obviously the start this year was worse than most but still would’ve been interested if he could’ve turned it around
Rob Bradford tweeted on 4/22 that Casas made an adjustment and went back to his 2023 batting stance, between that date and the injury last night he had a 167 wRC+
I’m not confident his ribs were fully healthy, his EVs were down.
Who cares how hard the outs are hit?! Teach them to hit for average!
Hard hit balls are generally more likely to find holes…
Were actually getting back to pre-beane where power rules and avg is an afterthought
Can you train Matsusaka to play first?
Dice K is back?!?
OOOPS I mean Yoshida my bad
Remember when casas shutdown the extension offers from boston and wanted huge $$$? Id bet he wishes hed acted ifferent these days.
Given that history, and, obviously the depending on your confidence in anthony’s ability to succeed, i wonder if this might be an opportunity for a rare pre-debut deal for roman that maybe buys a FA year or two outright then tacks on several club options as well.
Do they go after a defensive minded 1b like and Anthony Rizzo who’s still out there? Tho it would probably be 3-4 weeks before he’d be ready.
Or have Wong play at first and bring up Grandal to back up Narvaez. Not much in the way of internal options.
rizzo’s no longer a plus defender the concussion really did a number on him
Mike Ford!!! There’s also that Jake Bauers guy who always fills whenever someone has a firstbase injury crisis, but I think Milwaukee has him.
The White Sox will send you Andrew Vaughn for a case of sunflower seeds.
That’s about what Vaughn is worth.
Rizzo is done. Toast.
Arenado is still a theoretical option, and, a backup if bregman opts out and they dknt work a new deal with him
They don’t need a backup for Bregman opting out, Mayer is the backup plan for Bregman opting out unless Story is traded.
Story is only getting older. I doubt he opts out of the 3/55m left on his deal after this year, but, you never know.
Be a realist though, between story AND mayer youve probably got one healthy infielder combined in a given season.
Mayer cant be both story’s replacement and bregmans replacement
As a Yankee fan I wouldn’t want to see him with Boston across his chest but if he’s got anything left in the tank his presence alone would be a positive for the team , he’s a good guy.
Not sure they’ll even try devers over there. Opening up the DH spot gives a lot more opportunities to others though.
Lars Anderson and Sam Horn on Lines 1 and 2..
I’ll take Carlos Quintana and Sam Travis.
Danny Cater is still around.
Butch Hobson’s bad at third, so let’s try him at first.
He out for year with that injury
Move Story to 1B and bring up Mayer to play SS. Grissom is option 2.
Mayer should be taking reps at 1/3; with Romy gives them a L/R platoon and insurance in case Bregman or Story get injured.
Lets be honest, at some point story is getting banged up again. They need a solid sol lution through the whole season
Anything but bring up Roman Anthony lol
Luis Guerrero has done nothing but dominate in his brief big league career. Seems weird the Red Sox would make room for him in their bullpen.
Vaughn to Red Sox for prospects. He will hit 35 home runs in Boston.
Uh, no he won’t.
Andrew Vaughn? Career .712 OPS and Negative 44 OAA defensively. That Vaughn?
I hope you meant Mo Vaughn or even Vince Vaughn.
Just trying to heap you out. Nice new uniforms, I think you should change team name to
Make it wild thing vaughn from og major league and id be interested.
Move Devers to 1B and bring up Anthony
Can devers play 1b adequately?
Considering there has never been a public showing, did you really have to ask?
Lol great point
Probably not, but neither can/could lots of guys that have played there over the years
Rizzo plz
Sam Horn v2.0
Anthony Rizzo has entered the chat.
CJ Cron is a better choice if they go outside.
Not a sox fan, but tough break for Casas. Seems like a good player.
He’s a overrated player if he shuts his mouth and focus on playing the game and not trying to run the team he may become a good player the guy’s a cancer
Casas is just entitled with an ego, not really a cancer. I wouldnt want him in my clubhouse just because hes not a team player, but, given his age he never learned in school that theres no I in team.
Still i wish him the best on his recovery. My thoughts on his lack of respect for tradition and his lack of empathy for teammates feelings have nothing to do with his injury troubles.
Not only for the rest of 2025, but you have to wonder about the rest of his career. patella tendon injuries have deeply unfortunate prognoses. A potentially career ending injury.
A patella tear is much better than an ACL tear. He should be able to rehab from this injury just fine.
This is 2025 not 80’s and 90’s when this type of injury could have been a death sentence.
It might be a death sentence for a horse. Off to the knacker with you!!!!
Rizzo wouldn’t be a bad replacement, but I think they have a lot of options to begin with.
Red Sox called up 28-year-old Abraham Toro from Worcester. Toro plays mostly 3B but has played other infield positions including 1B (5 games this year). Romy Gonzales, who has played 9 games at 1B this year, & Toro will likely fill in the gap at first until, or if, the Sox target someone else.
They better target someone else. Those two won’t cut it. I’d rather roll with Grissom or Wong there.
Toro is out of options, so he very possibly ends up being a brief paining with Romy before getting dfa’d. I would not be surprised if we see Grissom after that. Feels like 2024 at 1B all over again.
I feel like grandal knew something was going to happen eventually with him too because he didn’t opt out.
I forgot about Grandal, Yeah, interesting possibility.
Time to trade Marcelo for Kurtz.
Kurtz’s not ready, he has a lot to work on, probably more than Mayer, but at the moment he’s gotten to the big first because the A’s are aggressive with their promotions, mainly due to AAA affiliate being a launching pad not suitable as a finishing school. A great comparison for Kurtz’s development steps is Soderstrom. Although Kurtz is likely to improve faster as the better prospect, there is still going to be a learning curve. We can see it at the moment for Kurtz by checking out his strikeout rate and his contact rates, in and out of the zone.
Michael Chavis is charging his phone in OKC…
Alex Binelas would be a great choice to bring up. He is a natural first basemen and hitting left handed with his power plays to Fenway. Red Sox may find out by letting him play how good He really is.
Doesn’t hurt to try Devers at 1B. Can help your OF logjam but letting guys rotate at DH.
Refsnyder has 36 games at first under his belt.
Somewhere in Florida Yoshi is cheering. He will play in the majors this season.
Todd Benzinger? Carlos Quintana? Nick Esasky?
One Five.
Esasky was fine until vertigo ruined his abilities.
Dewey- I was always a fan of Esasky. People forget that he hit 30 bombs for the Sox in ’89. Never quite knew why they didn’t re-sign him. I guess the organization thought Quintana was a less expensive in-house fit at 1b…
That sucks. Gnarly injury with a brutal rehab.
Bobby Dalbec 2.0
Angels had a pitcher tear his patellar tendon at Fenway about 10 years ago too.
Bobby Dalbec 1.0 could be had cheaply.
If only Yoshida was a little bit taller, could’ve been a baller
Mr. Yoshida though makes a tasty sauce…
I’d like to see Grandal ride in on a white horse.
Devers been hexing that voodoo doll
It makes the most sense to move Trevor Story to 1B and bring up Marcelo Mayer to play SS. Playing 1B will help Story stay healthy for the year and allow them to add a LHH in Mayer (to replace Casas).
Story should have no problem playing 1B. He’d be great at scooping balls in the dirt as well.
If you think Story will willingly play first, good luck with that
If you think Devers will be fine not playing 3B, good luck with that.
Never said anything about it. This team is so bad right now. Cora has done a terrible job. He was so good in 18 and 21 but this team has more problems than solutions at the moment.
Grissom is playing in AAA, and we let Romy Gonzalez play over him when Grissom is finally showing some success. We can’t promote our rookies because of a clear logjam, and Cora can’t get the right guys in the right positions.
Its a mess and it’s costing our games. Don’t even get me started on pitching. Cora should’ve pulled Dobbins after 5. Inexperienced pitcher facing the lineup the third time is not a good plan. It was a gamble but every time Cora touches pitching, he looks like a clown. So different from 2018 where he was the hero
Story at first just leels like an extended IL stint waiting to happen
I agree with GASoxfan. Why move everyone around? Cora’s messed up everything by doing that already. Why make things worse? I like a little versatility, but don’t take an injury prone SS and put him at 1B and hope he swims
A Nolan Arenado trade to play 1B has been floated. Raffy could do it with Yoshida getting time DH once healthy. I think Cora wants Raffy off his feet focusing purely on hitting.
Sydney, I am beginning to think his shoulder issues are serious enough that Cora doesn’t want him playing the field.
Sydney … Nova Scotia?
Masataka Yoshida needs to demand a trade; he’s a perfectly competent hitter who isn’t being played
Yoshi can’t throw. He has proven he can’t hit LHP. Not many teams want to trade for a platoon DH that is owed $54 million.
He was playing with an injured arm… the guy doesn’t rake but he can hit. Still very expensive for any team
He’s injured, but I agree he’s a good hitter. Had solid numbers last season and fantastic RISP numbers. Fire Cora already
Never mind, thought you were talking about Casas here
With Casas done for the year – good chance he’s played his last game in Boston as due to the projected arb raise and the injury, he will likely be non-tendered.
Love me non tender
No chance he will be non tendered that’s ridiculous.
Bruin, i agree a non-tender this time around isnt likely. Between the poor line this season and all the time hesngoing to miss i dont see an arb raise in his future. However, the following offseason…
It’s not rocket science. Devers goes to 1st, and Anthony comes up and DHs.
Problem solved.
Anthony DHing is wasting his on field talent…
So play him in the OF, and rotate at DH. Again..it’s not rocket science.
And when Yoshida comes off the IL? Fitting these guys is rocket science. We have too many on the roster already. The logjam is costing us games because of inconsistency. We need long term solutions if we wanna win. We are basically a .500 team for the 4th year in a row
When Yoshida comes back, if Anthony’s struggling, he goes back to AAA. If Anthony’s doing well, the Sox should throw in 20-25 mil or so, and get what they can for Yoshida.
You’re at .500 right now in large part because your starting 1B is hitting under .200, and your pitching has been just ok.
Personally, I believe Anthony would be a big improvement as far as the offense is concerned.
I never had faith in Dalbec 2.0 Casas. He’s never had a full decent season and it’s pretty obvious he wasn’t going to this year either way. The injury was a bit predictable.
We are at .500 because the team is terrible and Cora forgot how to properly manage a team.
Anthony hasn’t had a single major league at bat? What makes you think he will immediately be good? Look at Dalbec, Casas… at least Casas was highly touted and he’s not that great
Meanwhile, we have no place to put Grissom or Yoshida, adding to the mess
If devers vacates DH then yoshida is ready to return right then. The only reason yoshida isnt on the 26 man is because his arm isnt up to throwing from the OF.
You bring in a different dh and youve got issues with yoshida, his agent, and, even worse off ever recruiting from npb again.
Dalbec struck out at almost a 30% clip in the minors. Anthony looks worlds better comparatively. It’s not close.
This guy is so overrated. Obviously, the injury isn’t his fault, but he barely hits for average when he’s on the field and still people act like he’s a dangerous hitter. It’s another setback. I was wary on trading him because he was half decent (not great) but all bets are off now. I don’t see him being a consistent reliable option for our team. And injuries don’t just occur; there’s usually a reason behind them
The joke Sox are a .500 ball club at best. Cora costs them several games that he used to win for them.
The obvious move would be to move Devers to 1B and have Yoshida/whomever DH. The genius move (my idea) is to move Kristian Campbell to 1B. He’s 6’3″, long, athletic, and hits like a true power+contact middle of the order 1B. He could be outstanding as a 1B! Think of Derrek Lee.
Then Roman Anthony can come up to play some outfield with Raefela covering 2B, or better yet SS and Story at 2B. Or Romy at 2B. Or rotate all of them around but have Campbell at 1B primarily.
Obviously Story should always play whether it’s SS or 2B. Rafaela gives me a super-utility player vibe.
Ceddane was not very good in the infield on defense. It would be a downgrade. Been there, tried that, lots of errors and the bat suffered.
Campbell would be wasted at 1B. He provides good defense at 2B and a premium bat for that position. You dont mess with a good thing.
How would Campbell be wasted at 1B? I’m not so old fashioned as you as to insist on having a slow fat catcher and 1B. He hits as well as any 1B, is far faster on the basepaths and with some experience could be Gold Glove worthy defensively. Tell me how that is “wasted”.
I’ve watched every game this season. Campbell is not good at 2B. He has dropped a few balls in his glove for no sensible reason and his throws in particular are inconsistent. He spent most of last season in CF. Story is our ideal 2B. His bat is top of both leagues and his less than ideal arm strength at SS is no issue at 2B- he’s the perfect 2B. If you don’t like Rafaela at SS, there’s always Marcelo Mayer, but I’m not as sold on him being ready today as I am with Anthony.
If I were managing a team I’d want speed in every position: 1B, C, and DH included!
I hate to say this, but I’m not surprised he got injured. I kinda waited for it. Guy can’t catch a break. It was obvious that he was going to be an injury prone player after the last two years. He’s also not a fantastic hitter, other than one stretch of success. Reminds me of Bobby Dalbec 2.0 until he consistently proves himself. And he’s reached another setback
So Cora leaves in Wong who hasn’t found his bat yet hitting a buck fifthy , game on the line bottom 8th runners on one out.
White a hitter sits on the bench with a 328 average. Where’s the f n management there.
At least give the odds a better chance to tie or win a game with the better bat.
Yup Cora knows how to manage a game NOT
Useless piece of crap he is
ApH for your C is a touchy situation. All you’ve got left is Navarrez and if you go extra innings, he gets shaken up, then what?
I don’t like a lot of what cora does, but, there’s reasons to avoid PH for your catcher
Reason is as stated. Wong hasn’t found his bat yet.
Game on the line bottom 8th.
So why not PH?
Do tell your side to avoid.
Wong was 1 of 2 in the game coming to the AB you mentioned. Hes freshly off the IL, after a slow start to the season that was a long time ago.
You obviously dont care about damaging a player’s confidence, and, youre playing with fire by risking having no backup C left on the bench. You wouldnt have time for your backup to properly warm up, and, who knows what he had done for game prep to be prepared for the hitters who hed be calling pitches against. This risk doesnt outweigh the rewards, IMO.
Plenty of other opportunities for other players to have come through who didnt as well.
End of the day, Wong is #1 in the C depth chart. Youve got to do the most you can to bolster his confidence and help him find his groove. Theyre going to win and lose as a team, Wong *will* be at the plate in other high pressure situations as the seasom goes on. Its a case of taking the long view rather than hyper focusing kn one AB matchup
Wrong. Winning the game comes first before worrying about extra innings backup to your backup catcher.
Wait the Red Sox have a Venny Barbarino? Talking about burying the lede. Wonder why he was bereaved. Espteins mother?
The White Sox could trade Dalbec for more prospects
That’s a shame TC. I hope you heal quickly and I’d call Breslow or your age t and see if that extension is still on the table??? No guarantees in this game. I cut the same Patella Tendon, and both ICL & ECL. I never played again as a freshman in College. Our #’s were neay identical but I stole way more bags lol. Don’t quit…It’ll be sweeter after all these setbacks when you’re blasting 35 to 50 bombs a year. You can!