Red Sox skipper Álex Cora acknowledged over the weekend that there was concern about a potentially “lengthy absence” for first baseman Triston Casas following a rib injury, and it now seems those fears were warranted. Cora announced to the Red Sox beat that an MRI revealed a left rib fracture for Casas (X link via MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo), adding that the slugger is expected to be sidelined for “a while.” Cora didn’t delve into specifics but noted that Bobby Dalbec will pick up the bulk of playing time at first base in his absence.
The news is obviously rough for the Red Sox, as Casas has emerged as a consistently above-average hitter early in his career. Though he just turned 24 years old in January, he now has 687 major league plate appearances with 35 home runs and a walk rate of 14.7%. His 25.5% strikeout rate is a bit on the high side but the power and the free passes have led to a 252/.362/.482 batting line and 129 wRC+.
The Sox will now have to proceed without that production for some nebulous amount of time. “Time-table? There’s none,” Cora said, per Ian Browne of MLB.com. “This has to heal on its own. We’ve just got to be patient.”
Regardless of the eventual length of his absence, it adds to a growing pile of injuries for the Red Sox. Trevor Story is out for the year due to shoulder surgery. Vaughn Grissom hasn’t yet made his debut with the team due to a groin strain, though he is on a rehab assignment and getting closer to joining the big league club. The rotation is without Lucas Giolito, Garrett Whitlock and Nick Pivetta at the moment. The Sox have managed to go 13-10 so far and stay afloat in a tough A.L. East race, but each injury will make it harder to keep that up as the grind of the season continues.
For now, Dalbec will step in at first base, despite having hit .033/.121/.067 on the year so far. He has generally hit will in Triple-A over the years but struggled whenever brought up to the majors. He has hit .224/.291/.434 in the big leagues, 93 wRC+, while striking out in 36.5% of his plate appearances. Dating back to the start of 2021, he has hit .265/.372/.558 in the minors. His 33.8% strikeout rate down on the farm in that time has still been high but that production leads to a 129 wRC+.
The Sox will be hoping that a run of consistent playing time will help Dalbec get into a groove and have his major league numbers more closely resemble what he’s done in the minors. The Sox could also keep their eyes open for other options. The Cubs just designated first baseman Garrett Cooper for assignment and Boston is a sensible landing spot for him, though it’s one of many. If the Red Sox end up finding someone they like for the first base gig more than Dalbec, he can play other positions and is also still optionable.
Assuming Casas is going to miss at least a couple of months, he’ll be moved to the 60-day injured list whenever the club needs a roster spot. He was already placed on the 10-day IL on the weekend.
And so it begins…
Ouch. Club not giving a timeline, but Dr. Google suggests six weeks to three months for a rib fracture.
Dalbec gets his everyday job?
Kavadas gets that shot at the majors that he never expected?
Or do they go outside the organization to find somebody decent?
Brandon Belt?
Belt is about as good at 1B these days as Yoshida is in the outfield. He’s a DH now and not even up to game speed.
Perfect, he’ll fit right in.
@elmedius:
Brandon Belt was a +1 OAA and a -1 DRS last year at first for the Jays. He wasn’t used a lot at first (29 games, 242.2 innings) but he was serviceable on defense.
FanGraphs has him at -2 DRS. Take that 242.2 innings and multiply them over a full season…. Plus a -4 OAA in 2022… it’s not exactly good. And I’m no scout and only saw him play first a few times, but the guy looked like a brick out there last year. Maybe “serviceable” but definitely not good. It could be unrealistic salary expectations that have kept him off a roster this year, but being a DH that’s only just kind of serviceable at first in a pinch isn’t helping him.
That being said, the Sox have run Wong out there a few times late in games and I don’t see why they wouldn’t give the idea a bigger shot. Guy is an athlete and both he and Reese have been hitting well as of late. Ride the hot hands.
Cooper makes more sense than Belt. Cooper could step in immediately. Belt would probably take three weeks to ramp up and get game ready. JD Martinez was signed by the Mets a month back and still hasn’t debuted for them.
Lord – I think JDM’s issue is related to the back problems he’s had the past few years.
It is, but a reminder that older players are more prone to injury and need extra prep time. Belt’s had his own set over the years, including knee issues.
Garrett Cooper you are a Red Sox
can we please just place a sack of potatoes over at first. dalbec is not even remotely close to the answer. I’d rather see anybody else
It’s astonishing Dalbec is still in the organization, but we have to be grateful Yu Chang is not. I guarantee if Bloom was still in place, Chang would be the starting 3B right now.
Chang would be an improvement…
I can’t watch a full year of Dalbec
dirty – He has exactly 200 career hits, I think he just wants to savor the nice round milestone for a month or two. Look for #201 during the 4-game series in Chicago early June.
lol So how’s that decision not to add depth at corner infield paying off?? If I was watching the games the idea of having to watch Bobby Dalbec for an extended period would be enough to make me look elsewhere for entertainment!
I’m enjoying my life to the fullest. Did I hurt your wittle feelings??? It’s ok son, you just keep giving your time and attention to a team that has no interest in winning
Bobby Dalbec! Cool! Great. Neat. Fun! ahhh joy
As an O’s fan, I approve of Dalbec getting more playing time.
Let’s just hope we don’t have to wait 100 years in Baltimore
DFA deal for Garrett Cooper to be a body?
Brandon belt can also be signed so he can stop whining about not being signed
“Whining about not being signed”…Guys like Brandon Belt & Kike Hernandez severely overestimate their usefulness at this late stage of their careers. Kike, in particular, is lucky any team finds him useful enough to warrant a roster spot.
Casas had an OPS last year, which was lower than Belt’s
Belt had a .858 OPS last year. He had a .975 OPS in 2021. He probably “severely overestimated” himself because he hits very well.
“He hits very well”…If you just look at the numbers he sounds like a Hofer; but how many times do you have to bench him because he can’t hit that days “tough” pitcher? I’d look great too if they only played me against softer pitchers I can dominate.
“I’d look great too if they only played me against softer pitchers I can dominate.”
Nah, I don’t think you would.
Belt had a .858 OPS last year.
======================
He also had a .370 BABIP last year, And he’s been strictly a platoon player for the last 4 years, with only a .599 and .572 OPS in the past two years. Plus maybe 2-3 weeks to get ready.
Belt could still be a player, but for fit purposes, I’d with Cooper or trade for JD.
Belt put up an .859 OPS over 300+ at-bats last year. That puts him squarely in the vicinity of Jorge Soler (.853), Mike Trout (.857), Luis Robert (.857), Triston Casas (!!) (.857), Austin Riley (.859), Luis Arraez (.859)… the list goes on. I know he’s on the older side, but acting like Belt is washed up is just counterfactual. He had a very productive season last year and ranked in at least the top 100 offensive players by almost any worthwhile batting metric.
The part of that equation you left out is the fact that Belt admittedly has bad knees. He’d have to platoon with someone at 1B, and even then it’s a stretch to say he’ll last the season without a notable IL placement. Realistically he’s a DH/bench bat, and you wanna keep him away from 1B as much as possible.
He’s probably got more thump than Yoshida, lol
crocus – Why do you think Belt received zero interest last offseason? He doesn’t have a bad reputation like Bauer, so I tend to think MLB front offices know something about him that we don’t.
Yeah, I’ve wondered that too. I mean, I think some of it has to do with the devaluation of bat-first corner pieces across the sport, and after putting up such a (genuinely impressive!) campaign I’m guessing Belt wasn’t willing to settle for a cheap contract. Hard to blame him for that—defensive versatility is an enormous boon, of course, but it is a little weird that a guy who produced so well at the plate can only land minor league deals while IKF is getting multi-year deals in the millions just because he can play every position. (Honestly, Kiké is a good example of this too.)
My theory is that watching Miggy and Pujols limp across the finish line of their mega-deals has convinced most owners that signing defensively-limited sluggers in their late 30s is a uniformly bad idea. I’d echo that for long-term deals, for sure (which is part of why I think extending Devers was so foolish), but taking an 8-10 million flyer on someone who can post 25 home runs and bat 5th every day doesn’t seem unreasonable to me at any age, bad knees be damned.
No worries…. Bobby D gonna go big. Nah
Not good. 60-day IL minimum.
This fella is going to be out all year. No way he can swing a bat with force for the next 6 months
Don’t sneeze dude. Worst pain ever.
Fracturing a rib swinging a bat. Wow. That’s going at it.
Reminds me of the game last Sept when Rengifo tore a biceps swinging a bat in the on deck circle.
At some point you have to start questioning their strength and conditioning department. They’re down 3 of their top starting pitchers and their top 4 hitters, plus Vaughn, who projected to be one of their top hitters also. They need new trainers and overhaul their entire fitness program. It’s not working and it’s utterly embarrassing.
I never really bought the whole “replace the training staff” excuse. Maybe I’m way off base but these guys are all professional athletes, have a whole range of private coaches, dieticians, personal training regimens, etc. Sox training staff are part of that but I don’t look to them for blame on these early-season injuries
Well, when every player that matters goes down with an injury, there is a common denominator.
Casas got hurt swinging too hard. Story got hurt diving for a ball, And O’Neill got hurt in a collision. I appreciate good conditioning, but a couple of laps around the track wouldn’t fix that.
I’ll give you the collision, but everyone else, including all the pitchers, their bodies are breaking down far too easily. Like I said, whatever they’re doing isn’t working.
How would a trainer make a bone harder?
You’re right there’s a lot of ignorance in these comments. Building up muscles and a strong core prevents injuries. Strong intercostal muscles protect the ribs. This stuff is taught in grade school. The only lifting these commenters do is Bud Light cans.
Strength training builds bone density.
This is mostly a pure guessing game. Casas looks like he spends a ton of time lifting. And there is only a certain amount of lifting you’d want a SS, or maybe a pitcher to do.
Casas absolutely did a lot of lifting over the off-season. Other than that, we don’t know the details of his workout. We can hope that he gave full attention to his core strength, but a poorly crafted training program can set you up for injuries by resulting in strength imbalance. We just don’t know.
You would think these guys would have professional trainers on call 24/7, but the reality is that it is a lot more haphazard than that. Maybe some smart organization will find a way to make their training staff available to the players and prospects over the winter? Tough to put all the responsibility on a kid in his 20s and expect him to get it right.
Casas is young and I doubt any trainer would be worried about his bone density or breaking a rib like this which seems like a rare event. I would bet he does a lot of core exercises. Whatever happened, I think he will get an exercise program designed to help prevent this from happening again in the future.
I remember after the 86 season… Bob Stanley did a interview… it was titled..” My season from hell’ wonder if it’s trademarked????
Bob Stanley never should have been pitching with the World Series on the line. John McNamara’s biggest mistake that year.
Second biggest mistake…..leaving Buckner in the game was his first biggest mistake.
Stop it!!! Enough!!! Don’t be that guy…. Like in Chicago people blaming Bartman… untrue….
Fat … respect your opinion but I’m 6-5 300 lb and I could have done a better job than Richard Leo on that pitch… to this day the last time I saw a face of fear like Calvin S in 10th I was taking M-Cat….
Olm – Many years ago, probably before your time, there was a football player who was 6’2″ 390 pounds in college and dropped down to 335 pounds in the NFL.
He played for Da Bears …. they called him The Fridge ….. and I have no idea where I’m going with this …… oh yeah, ever consider the WWE? Fridge made some big bucks at Wrestlemania …. even did a song and video called The Superbowl Shuffle …..
Crazy fact… I was at that wrestlemania as it was a battle royal!! Jimbo covert was also in it!! They had it at rosemont horizon .. as for me… when I played ball I could catch anything hit at me but coach said I had about much range AS a refrigerator!!!lol
“M-Cat”..???? I’m not sure if the M-Cat I am thinking about is the M-Cat you’re referring to….but maybe it is lol.
Ignorant – Same one Jack said Greg never took in Meet The Parents.
And I can’t believe his last name got flagged!
I did as good as Calvin… I ended up M-CAT….Manager..CATEGORY…( Produce) at grocery store in Illinois!!LOL!!!Daughter who just did take it( to get into med school) enjoyed my post) like the game CLUE… I don’t have one…. LOL!!!
IGN Sob/ FPG… I’m sorry I didn’t come here looking for trouble…. I just came to do the Brasier shuffle….
Olm – Staying on the subject of Chicago ….. remember how I was the only one who kept pushing for Breslow to sign Imanaga??? And he signed for a pittance with the Cubbies.
Shota is 3-0 in 4 starts with a 0.84 ERA and 0.750 WHIP. and 21 K’s to just 2 Walks!
When will the Red Sox ever learn to listen to me!!!
Yes sir!!! I always said YOU guys really have a knack on knowledge about Red Sox.. I just hope you guys find it in your hearts to hire me to sell peanuts at the Fens.. ( not beer) no one buys peanuts so I could watch the game!!!… define irony… Bobby goes 0-2 but NO k’s…. RM pinch hits and….????
Olm – I think GASox should be the one training Breslow!
Me, I’d be happy just as a 5th Assistant GM ….. 4 AGM’s just ain’t enough.
Or Chief Experience Officer, which is an actual Red Sox position right now. I’ll give ’em an experience.
Otherwise make me the Assistant To The Traveling Secretary …. hey if Costanza can hold that title, so can I.
On a bright note, O’Neill is back!!! Someone needs to explain to Devers that he should stay in his own lane on the field like he actually understands how to play defense. Think about how lucky Bogey was not being injured playing next to Devers all those years. Instead, Devers just ruined Bogey’s defensive metrics!!!
I think moving O’Neill to DH and Yoshida to left field makes sense so when Devers clobbers the LF again the impact is much less!! Wait, I’ve got it. Move Devers to DH!!! That way he never clobbers someone again!!
TF – Unfortunately O’Neill was definitely still suffering from the concussion tonight, just 1-for-4 with 2 K’s. I hope this isn’t another situation like Rizzo last year, he suffered a concussion early in the season but kept playing for months and his performance sucked.
My man Yoshida got hit again, what’s up with that? Second time in his last 3 games!
Same people who at this time said Casas was awful are now crying their eyes out that Casas is out.
Amen.
How is Cooper’s defense at 1st base?
sheer – Cooper is 56 right now, but he did play a solid first base and third base so why not?
Unless you’re talking about Cooper Criswell becoming the next Ohtani.
Bobby Dalbec hanging around like a stray cat. Sox need to let the dog out.
There are very few things that could make me stop watching the Red Sox, but a full 550 at-bats from Bobby Dalbec might be one of them. He’s just not a sustainable person to have in your everyday lineup by almost any evaluation. I’m not even sure he’d make the roster on the A’s.
And for anyone who wants to point to his flash-in-the-pan rookie season… that was then, this is now. He’s completely lost at the plate.
crocus – Great point, some people here definitely live in the past too much.
As the great Bill Belichick once said, better to run a guy out of town a year too soon than a year too late.
They fired Bill more than a year too late
Sox need Cooper and they did have interest over the winter,hopefully something happens there.
At 13-10 you have to wonder how good this team could be if they could stay healthy for 5 minutes
Cora: “I have bad news and worse news. The bad news is Casas is headed for a lengthy IL stint. The worse news is he’s being replaced with Bobby Dalbec.” I think an injured Casas would be more productive than Dalbec at the top of his game.
After the first 100 consecutive sliders low and away, you’d think Dalbec could discern a pattern.
Him and Ceddanne.
DBH – I can’t believe Cora still has him at leadoff, another hitless game tonight with 3 K’s. Not only is it obviously hurting the team, the added pressure of batting leadoff has to be a factor.
There’s a reason why great rookies always batted in the bottom third of the lineup, it keeps the pressure off them.
He has a 50M contract now otherwise he would be back in AAA. That wasn’t Cora’s idea.
I wish Dalbec could Daubach.
hayzee – Little known fact related to the Belleville Basher, I stayed overnight in Belleville when the Sox were on the road in the ’04 WS.
That beats my story. In 1978, I lived in the same town as Bucky Dent and Goose Gossage. Ugh.
hayzee – No, your story beats mine.
For just a couple days I was in a town the Dauber grew up in, but you lived in the same town as those two guys. That’s definitely better than my story!
Looking back, Duquette was really good at identifying talent from the scrap heap …. Daubach, O’Leary, Wakefield …..makes you wonder how many championships he could have won with a budget as big as Larry/Theo had.
For some reason my town was popular with Yankees players. So was the next town over. It was kind of depressing for a Red Sox fan. Especially around that time.
hayzee – Typically when one is the first to move into an area, they talk people they know into doing the same.
My parents were the first from their region to move into New England, and shortly after a bunch of relatives followed.
I suppose it’s fitting that Dalbec and Malbec rhyme.
Wow. Cora is quoted in the globe that Casas is out for the season!
How did he fracture his ribs?
It looks pretty clear to me that Dalbec, who seems like a decent chap, just cannot hit major league pitching with any consistency. He’s ok around the bag at 1B, but that K rate really sinks him at the dish. He’s just one of those AAAA guys who’s never going to master(or even be average) against major league pitching. If I were in charge of the club, I would always be looking to trade guys like this to another team who hopes they can catch that elusive lightening in a bottle type of thing.
Also, I’ve had a rib fracture before; it’s really uncomfortable for a long, long time. Casas will be out awhile.
Guy he struck out 30% of time in AAA
They let Travis Shaw go for being better than Dalbec currently is.
Dalbec is simply not a Major Leaguer. No shame in that. Time to move on.
Niko Kavadas should get his chance soon especially if continues to rake in Worcester.
Who gets DFAd to give Kavadas a chance?
“Bobby Dalbec will pick up the bulk of playing time at first base in his absence.”
Doh!
Gotta sign Izzy Alcantara
The karate kid.
Good clubhouse guy too
seasons over 2025 is our year! shucks atleast chaim was hired
Jose – This is why I never buy into punting on a season with the expectation they will compete in 3-5 years. Kennedy said only when MAT have developed into major league stars will the Red Sox try to win. It’s just another dangling carrot from the front office, there’s no guarantee they will all turn into starts let alone stay healthy. This was supposed to be a breakout year for both Casas and Rafaela, obviously it hasn’t happened.
* Turn into stars, not starts. LOL
Terrible loss for the Sox. I’ll be surprised if we see Casas again this season. Remember Jacoby Ellsbury when he fractured a rib. He kept trying to comeback and kept reinjuring his rib.
Yaz – Great point about Ellsbury. All it takes is a sneeze or cough to re-injure.
Blobby is awful..for the love of all that is good in the world please get someone else!!
At the Cron house right now, CJ is kicking himself for opting out in order to not sign anywhere.
They should give Kavadas a shot if they miss out on Cooper. Kavadas might only hit .200, but that’s better than Dalbec at the plate because of his OBP capability. His career MiLB OBP is something like .415
Why not just sign Brandon Belt?
They prefer suspenders? I think they prefer a right handed bat. Dalbec merely occupies the batters box on the left hand side of home plate.
Unfortunately, Dalbec still has a selling point, namely that he can play pretty good D at both 1B and 3B. All of the replacements you’d rather see at 1B would not be able to cover 3B, and, now that Devers has stupid money, his body is free to break down all he wants (not to mention how bad he is at 3B, cutting everyone off to boot balls). If you pick up Cooper and put him at 1B, the only 3B backup is Pablo Reyes. When Grissom is ready, Enmanuel Valdez goes down because he has been bad. Ditching Dalbec (which I am FOR) nonetheless causes replacement needs at both IF corners, not just 1B.
Dalbec is in his final option year. Also, correct me.l if I’m wrong, but, under the new CBA, a guy can only be shuttled back and forth three times in a season as well IIRC, right? So you can option him 3 different seasons, and, new rule, no more than 3 times up/down in each of those option years.
Sending him back down now would burn the second trip in a young 2024 since he broke camp with the club, only to go back to aaa something like 6 PAs later.
That means you only get to use him one more time, and, we’re not even out of April? That’s a problem for a team.that ignored 3B backup depth all winter. Dalbec is your only good defender that can backup Devers. The fact he plays good defense at both 1st and 3rd helps a lot
I thought it was a limit of five, not three. And I believe that, if the person sent down must be recalled because of an injury to someone on the 26-man, then that recall might be allowed regardless of the limit (not sure about this). I know that, in the case of such injury, the recalled player doesn’t have to be stuck in the minors for the usual waiting period but can come up right away to replace an IL player.
hayzee – As a suspender man myself, I endorse that joke!
Just think if Panda was wearing suspenders instead of a belt, he never would have suffered such an embarrassing public humiliation.