Red Sox Move Triston Casas To 60-Day IL After Trade With Cubs

The Boston Red Sox agreed to a pregame trade with the Chicago Cubs on Saturday afternoon, acquiring Garrett Cooper to help assist the team with some much-needed depth at first base.

As a corresponding move to help create roster space, the Red Sox transferred first baseman Triston Casas to the 60-day injured list, the team confirmed after its lopsided 17-0 win over the Cubs. Originally, Casas was placed on the injured list without much clarity; however, now, with fractured cartilage keeping the 24-year-old sidelined, Casas isn’t eligible to return until June.

In the meantime, the door is open for Cooper to contribute after the eight-year veteran was designated for assignment by Chicago.

“Obviously it’s a guy that he can put a good at-bat,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Cooper, per Christopher Smith of MassLive. “He can hit lefties and righties. He’s a good defender. So we’ll sit down and go over what we’re going to do. We do believe he’s going to help us out.”

Cooper, 33, is a career .268/.337/.435 hitter, but only lasted 12 games with the Cubs this season, parting ways after hitting .270 with one home run and six RBIs. While Casas remains in recovery mode, Boston will need Cooper to hold down the fort, defensively more than anything considering Casas’ bat is far from easy to replace.

Boston has been struck by a dark cloud of injuries lately, losing Nick Pivetta, Brayan Bello, Isaiah Campbell, Romy Gonzalez, and Garrett Whitlock all within the last four days alone.