The Red Sox announced Saturday 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 Friday night’s game. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow says 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 apparent injury Friday night when he awkwardly hit the first base bag 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, 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 how to replace 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 Alex Bregman bumped him off third base. Moving him to 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 also get into the mix, though he has been battling ongoing shoulder problems and his return timeline is unclear.
It’s a bit of a crowded picture with Devers in the DH spot. 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 moved 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.” Apart from Casas, he is the only Boston player to have played first base this year. He’s having a decent season, 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 from first base, which is generally a bat-first position, but the Sox will try it 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 Breslow is 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 performed well in Triple-A this year, with a .310/.403/.480 line, though a .392 BABIP is doing him some favors. He has played the three non-shortstop infield positions and the outfield corners in his big league career. 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.
