Red Sox fans won’t like Alex Cora’s comments on possible Triston Casas’ debut
Alex Cora, Chaim Bloom explain why the Red Sox haven’t called up Triston Casas
The Boston Red Sox have a losing record, little hope of clinching one of the three American League Wild Cards, and more injuries than you can count on both hands, including their new first baseman, Eric Hosmer.
And still, no Triston Casas.
Fans hoped that once the calendar flipped to August, the 22nd of the month, in particular, Casas would make his major-league debut. As of this week, the Sox can call him up without infringing upon his rookie eligibility for 2023. Doing so would preserve his chance of vying for Rookie of the Year, and if he were to finish in the top three, the Sox would gain an additional draft pick.
Instead, Casas remains in Triple-A, despite Cora describing the roster as ‘thin’ due to mounting injuries. Franchy Cordero is playing first base on Wednesday evening, and Bobby Dalbec is filling in for Xander Bogaerts at shortstop, a position at which he’s spent exactly seven innings in his entire professional career.
Thin, indeed.
So why isn’t Casas here? According to Cora and President of Baseball Operations, Chaim Bloom, the 2018 first-round pick’s ankle injury this season is a key factor in the decision to keep him in Triple-A.
Here's Alex Cora on the extent of conversation about calling up Triston Casas with Eric Hosmer on the injured list: pic.twitter.com/9DkJdK6M6R
— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) August 23, 2022
“He didn’t play last year” is a weird qualifier from Cora, as Casas did play 86 games between Double and Triple-A in 2021. He hit .279/.394.484 with a .877 OPS, 15 doubles, and 14 homers. And even though he did miss about two months of the current season, 67 games isn’t nothing.
Bloom also noted that calling Casas up now would be selfish. The team needing him and him being ready are very different situations:
"“If we were to do it right now, we’d be doing it for reasons besides what serves Triston Casas best in terms of what’s going to enable him to have the best big league career he’s going to have.”"
Fans should respect the decision from the standpoint of doing what’s best for Casas. It’s a departure from several of their other call-ups in recent years, including Rafael Devers. When the Sox called Devers up in 2017, they did so to fill the enormous offensive void left by David Ortiz’s retirement. But Devers’ defensive struggles in his five MLB seasons are due to limited time in the minors, where he would have worked on fundamentals.
That said, it’s been a rough season to be a Sox fan, and looking forward to a potential Casas debut was a light at the end of this injury-ridden tunnel. Instead, it looks like it will be another frustrating footnote in the story of the ’22 Sox.
