BOSTON — Details remain murky about the left leg injury suffered by Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas on Friday night, but considering he was stretched out and then taken by ambulance to a local hospital, there’s clear concern it’s serious. For the second time in as many years, the Red Sox, despite hoping for the best when it comes to Casas, are facing the possibility of missing him for an extended period of time.
“It’s a significant knee injury,” confirmed manager Alex Cora. “He’s at the hospital right now, getting more tests and all that stuff. We’ll have more information (Saturday).”
With limited depth at first base in the organization, where will the Red Sox turn at the position? Here’s a look:
Who can play first and is already on the roster?
Romy Gonzalez is Casas’ backup (and effectively his platoon partner against left-handed starters), logging 60 ⅔ innings at first already this year. The utility man replaced Casas on Friday and seems like the immediate fill-in.
Beyond Gonzalez, there’s not much in the way of options on the active roster. Connor Wong started six games at the position last year but the Red Sox didn’t like what they saw enough to mix him in there at all to start 2025. Rob Refsnyder has 227 career MLB innings at the position but not since 2020 and the Red Sox tried, with little success, to get Refsnyder some reps there at Triple-A last year. Catcher Carlos Narváez got a good bit of work at first last year at Triple-A with the Yankees (114 innings) but the Red Sox have not given him a look there at all.
David Hamilton has never played the position in the major leagues. Kristian Campbell never played there in the minors and the Red Sox want to keep developing him at second.
What about at Worcester?
There have been five different players to man first base at Triple-A Worcester this year, including two on the 40-man roster: Vaughn Grissom and Nick Sogard. Grissom, naturally a middle infielder who broke into the Red Sox organization playing exclusively second base last year, entered Friday with four games of experience at first as the club tries to build depth. Sogard, who plays all over the diamond, has seen time at five different spots for Worcester so far.
Grissom is probably the best immediate Triple-A solution as someone with a good amount of big league experience and offensive upside (entering Friday, he’s hitting .289 with three homers and an .825 OPS in Triple-A. But Sogard could be a short-term call-up option because of his familiarity with the position and ability to switch-hit.
The WooSox also have Nathan Hickey, veteran Abraham Toro and Alex Binelas as options. The versatile Toro has 365 big league games under his belt and has hit well so far this year (.917 OPS), so he could be in the mix.
The Red Sox also have veteran Yasmani Grandal at Triple-A. Could there be a complicated scenario in which he comes up as a backup catcher and either Wong or Narváez plays first?
Roman Anthony? Rafael Devers?
There are two big-name outside-the-box options that the Red Sox likely won’t consider: Roman Anthony and Rafael Devers. Moving either of them to first base would represent a major shakeup — and a departure from what the Red Sox want to do.
Anthony has never played first and the Red Sox want to keep developing him as an outfielder. Just yesterday, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow told The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier that such a move wasn’t being considered at all. Considering Anthony is just 20 and the Sox are focused on his long-term development, the scenario is a long shot at best.
“I think just given (Anthony’s) age, there’s still an opportunity for him to develop in the outfield,” Breslow said. “Until you feel like that’s in a place where there isn’t just a massive opportunity cost to taking reps away, that’s where he should be focused,” said Breslow. “And also, I think obviously, at some point he’s going to be impacting our major league team, and to throw another variable into the mix probably doesn’t make a ton of sense when that transition in and of itself can be difficult at times.
Devers, who was moved to designated hitter this year to accommodate the addition of Alex Bregman, has never played first base at any level of the professional ranks. Asking him to do so now, in the middle of a season in which he has had zero in-game defensive work, would be a tall ask. It can’t be entirely ruled out (wouldn’t Devers welcome a return to the field?) but is by no means a likely option. And it’s too early to entertain what the eventual, potential return of Masataka Yoshida could mean for the positional mix.
Any external candidates?
A year ago, when Casas tore cartilage in his rib cage on a swing in Pittsburgh on April 20, Breslow quickly sprung into action, adding two veteran first baseman in quick succession. He acquired Garrett Cooper from the Cubs and signed Dom Smith after Smith opted out of a minor league deal with Tampa Bay.
Veterans on minor league contracts are typically available around May 1. Smith is once again one of them and he’s at Triple-A with the Yankees. Mike Ford (Twins), Joey Meneses (Mets), Bligh Madris (Tigers) and even old friend Christian Arroyo (Phillies) are among the potential fits in that boat. Veteran Anthony Rizzo also remains a free agent but he went unsigned all winter, never participated in spring training and remains at home at age 35 (36 in August). He has said he doesn’t want to just sign for any amount and therefore wants fair value to play again.
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