Triston Casas has been an interesting sub-plot of the Boston Red Sox’s offseason. Red Sox manager Alex Cora recently described Casas as a player who’s been “forgotten” by people, which was Cora alluding to Casas’ talent at the age of 25 and the fact that people are overlooking him because of his injury history.
Indeed, Casas has a lot to prove once he returns to full health; namely, that he can remain that way and play a full MLB season.
On Tuesday, The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey provided an interesting update on Casas. McCaffrey cited some pointed remarks from Red Sox CBO Craig Breslow suggesting that Casas might still factor into Boston’s 2026 first base plans in a big way.
“All offseason, Breslow’s comments about not penciling in Casas as the Opening Day first baseman have created speculation about his role. Last week, Breslow tried to offer clarity,” McCaffrey wrote. “It’s not about our confidence in his baseball ability,” Breslow said (per McCaffrey). “He’s got the same talent that he had: the ability to manage the strike zone, to hit the ball out of the park. We need that. We’re going to need that. We just don’t want to overly pressurize the situation for guys coming back from a pretty significant injury.”
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“So a healthy Casas could indeed be the Opening Day first baseman?” McCaffrey continued. “He could, for sure,” Breslow said (per McCaffrey). “Again, I don’t want to get too far out in front of ourselves, but he’s a guy who, when he’s on the field, he’s had the ability to impact the game. He just has not, unfortunately, been on the field.”
McCaffrey then speculated that the Red Sox might have Casas start the season in Triple A to get his rhythm and confidence back.
Featured image via David Butler II/Imagn Images
