The Red Sox are expected to reinstate first baseman Triston Casas from the 60-day injured list today, reports MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo. The slugger should be back in the lineup for tonight’s matchup with the Orioles and ace Corbin Burnes.
Casas, 24, had a slow start in 2023 before finding his stride with a breakout five-month finish to last season. He largely picked up where he left off early in 2024, popping six homers in 90 plate appearances and slashing .244/.344/.513 before sustaining fractures on the left side of his ribcage and enduring a lengthy shutdown from baseball activities. The Sox have eased Casas back into action with an 11-game run in Triple-A Worcester, during which he’s turned in a hearty .300/.404/.550 slash in 47 trips to the plate.
The return of Casas should provide a thunderous boon to a Sox lineup that has received middling production from Dominic Smith in his absence. Smith hasn’t been an abject liability but has turned in a tepid .237/.317/.390 batting line that checks in 5% worse than league average, by measure of wRC+. Others like Romy Gonzalez, Garrett Cooper and Bobby Dalbec have filled in at times but have struggled to produce overall. (Cooper is no longer with the organization.)
While Casas’ return isn’t likely to turn the tides in the division race — at least not directly, though he could certainly impact the Orioles/Yankees battle for first place — he could very much be a difference-maker in Boston’s pursuit of a Wild Card berth. The Red Sox are eight games behind the Yankees and O’s, who are tied for the AL East lead, but they’re a more manageable 2.5 games back in the hunt for the third Wild Card slot. Getting a legitimate 30-homer bat back into the middle of the lineup — Casas has popped 30 homers while batting .260/.363/.493 in 154 games dating back to last season — has major ramifications for the remainder of the Red Sox’ schedule.
Casas is on the 60-day injured list, so Boston will need to make a corresponding 40-man roster move in order to reinstate their prized young slugger. They don’t have an obvious candidate to replace him on the 60-day IL, unless they’ve quickly determined that James Paxton’s partial calf tear is indeed a season-ender, so a DFA or waiver placement could be in the offing.
Wow the Tigers finally got an impact player at first base!
who is doing the proof reading here…the tigers are reinstating tristan casis…really
Who is doing your own proofreading?
“tristan casis” … really.
If Paxton’s injury is season ending, wouldn’t they just release him? He still gets paid and is a free agent after the season. Why the 60 day IL shenanigans?
i dont think you can simply release injured players. could be wrong on that though
First, why not? A player on the 60 day DL doesn’t impact anything else on the roster.
Second, a player accrues service time while on the DL, but not if released. That might not be a huge factor for Paxton (since he has the critical 10 years of service time to qualify for a pension), but it can be very important for other players.
An injury is an injury. That’s what the DL is for.
It allows him to stay with org to rehab and accrue service time as you’ve noted. If you have a history of releasing injured players, good luck signing any vet pitcher to a one-year deal. Red Sox may also want to resign Paxton cheap so that door stays open for now.
Tff – woah woah woah. Hold up there Jarren Duran. This is 2024. It’s called the IL.
Wouldnt releasing him be the same as firing an employee out on disability?..bet that breaks all sorts of laws not to mention liklely prevented by the cba
IL or DL, who really cares? Another Manfraud disaster
I’m sick of saberstats. I was not a Dom Smith fan when he was in NY as a Met. I am now as Smith has been above average in the field and has had some key at bats of late. No disrespect to others but the team would not be in the WC race if Cooper and Dalbec were covering first. Moreover, he’s a clubhouse asset who forces himself onto the club as a reserve. A lefty backing up a lefty is not ideal but he is not being cut with Casas returning. It’s always fun watching good surprises and Dom Smith has been a good surprise.
No reason for him to be on the roster with Casas. Smith is 100% lost vs LHP, isn’t as some claim average defensively at 1b and really, let’s be truthful, just a typical, retread typle player who will float around AAA-mlb for another 2-4y, as long as he doesn’t regress much and end up in Japan, Korea, MX etc.
Was it kind of fun pulling for him the last few months? Sure, it was also hard watching is struggles, excepting a couple of short streaks he went on.
his time has come. Give him a TY and move on towards the future 1b in casas.
I totally disagree. Casas still at times has pain and Smith is now a key reserve for the end of this year. If Casas gets hurt again, the team is not winning but there is room for Smith. Smith replaces McGuire as a lefty with Jansen now the other catcher.
With Tyler O’Neill still out there’s no reason not to keep Smith on the roster as most likely its Gasper that gets sent back down to make room for Casas. As Dewey said Casas still has pain and isn’t going to play in a lot of consecutive games and Smith can serve as a late inning defensive substitute
This why stats matter versus your short term biased unsupported position. We are all sick of stat phobics who don’t like what they can’t understand.
Some I don’t understand but some are silly because it’s not realistic to compare a back up catcher to a starting first baseman for example. Also where is the defense considered? It’s more important for those in fantasy leagues. I use my eyes and believe this team would be four or five games worse without Smith’s on and off the field efforts.
First of all, we are not getting wild card. Second of all, I disagree. Dom Smith only gave out team .1 WAR. That’s nothing. He was negative WAR for awhile. We would still be in the race without him as he’s barely contributed stat-wise.
I’m shocked that the team didn’t turn to Mike Napoli or Mitch Moreland to fix their 1B woes.
Joemo don’t be ridiculous…. Now George Scott would be a welcoming presence though…..
Bob Burda is 86, but still alive and ready to slap on the uniform.
Too bad Bill Buckner is not available.
I’m thinking Mo Vaughn
Sam Horn, Todd Benzinger, or Carlos Quintana, anyone?
Do they not need a pinch hitter?What if Casas goes out again?Maybe bring Dalbec back up.He is a righty.
Dalbec stands in the right-hand batter’s box, but is not a hitter. I can swing and miss at three pitches, thus providing the same result and I work cheap.
Who gets removed from active rostor? Dom? Or gasper?
“Who gets removed”…I can’t see a team that’s expecting(or trying)to make the playoffs, keeping a backup 1bman(D.Smith) who literally has no other positional or skill versatility. Smith, with little to no power, doesn’t really meet the profile of a LH bench bat in my opinion.
Dom is a better pitcher than Luis Garcia.
There is nothing about this announcement that I like. The Sox are in a very unenviable position of not really being in the wild card race but thinking they’re better off than they are.
The trade deadline moves, to be polite, have been disasters, trading off top 15 prospects they could’ve used in the upcoming off season to try and land longer term solutions for relievers (please go ahead and cut Garcia loose, with Sims hanging on by his fingernails).
I’m all for Casas wanting to help the team and trying to man up, but he’d be better off taking the rest of this season off and be 100% for next season. At best, maybe he catches fire for a time. at worst, he re-injures himself during his first at bat or trying to make a play in the field (a la Paxton)- making recovery time even longer. I hope he’s healthy and does well, but is it worth it to risk the health of part of the team’s future for a team that is barely in the race now? I, for one, don’t think so.