By all indications, Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas has handled rehab from spring knee surgery with aplomb and is slated to be ready for action by the time spring training comes around next year.
Whether he will still be the presumptive Red Sox first baseman, however, remains a question. He held that role entering both the 2024 and 2025 seasons, but in each instance, he suffered a significant injury by the first weekend in May. He did come back–from an oblique muscle pull–in 2024, but the knee injury he suffered this season required surgery and knocked him out for the season.
In all, Casas played 92 games in the past two seasons, and has been unable to build on the momentum established in his rookie year, when he hit 24 homers with an .856 OPS as he finished third in the Rookie of the Year Award voting. In the injury-wracked years since, he hit just .222 with 16 homers and a .730 OPS.
When asked about Casas on Monday, then, it should perhaps be of no surprise that Red Sox baseball chief Craig Breslow was not exactly committed to the hobbled slugger going forward.
Triston Casas: ‘Missed a Significant Amount of Time’
Breslow was not ruling out Casas, of course. But after suggesting that the way to be more successful in the playoffs would be to hit home runs, he was asked about Casas and was not overly enthused about Casas’ prospects.
“I don’t think it makes a ton of sense to say on October 6 someone is or isn’t our first baseman,” Breslow said. “We’ll see how things play out. Unfortunately, Triston has missed a significant amount of time over the last two years. We’ve also seen what he is capable of doing when he is healthy.”
Red Sox Badly Need More Homers
No doubt, the Red Sox could use more power. The team hit 186 homers on the year, which ranked 15th overall this season, but is not enough in a park like Fenway and not enough for a team with World Series aspirations. They hit only one in the playoffs.
Boston had only two 20-homer hitters–Trevor Story (25) and Wilyer Abreu (22).
Keeping Alex Bregman (18 homers) is the team’s first free-agent priority, but one of the top home run hitters in the game, the Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, will be a free agent this winter. Alonso hit 38 homers with a league-high 41 doubles this season, and is a right-handed hitter (ideal for Fenway) who rarely misses games (he played all 162 in 2024 and 2025).
Red Sox Could Pursue Free-Agent Sluggers
Adding Alonso would give the Red Sox the kind of pop they’ve lacked. They could also look at designated hitter Kyle Schwarber. Either way, Boston could come away with a more reliable bat than Casas.
The Red Sox will be open to all options.
“We faced significant injuries in the course of the season to guys that have shown they can hit the ball out of the ballpark, whether that was in the big leagues or internally,” Breslow said. “So, we’ll actively look to improve the roster. That means we have to be willing to look into free-agency, trade and internally.”
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