Boston Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas came into the 2025 season with big expectations for himself.
In an interview with Alex Speier of The Boston Globe, he expressed his belief that he could hit 40 homers and drive in 120 RBIs, saying that those numbers were the expectation for a Red Sox first baseman.
Suffice it to say, Casas hasn't quite lived up to those hopes so far. He's hit just one homer and has only three RBIs. His slash line of .180/.242/.279 isn't exactly the kind of production you want out of your first baseman.
Looking at some of his peripheral stats, it's not hard to see why Casas has struggled so mightily to begin 2025. His average exit velocity of 88.2 miles per hour ranks in the 35th percentile, a big drop from his mark of 91.1 in 2023. His barrel rate and hard-hit rate are in the 57th and 28th percentiles respectively, well below his rankings in 2023 and 2024.
Is it time for Red Sox fans to panic about Triston Casas' slow start?
Some serious oppo power from Triston Casas for his first HR of the year! pic.twitter.com/iqz5F0ZMQe
— MLB (@MLB) April 3, 2025
Most concerning of all, though, is his walk rate, which is just 6.1% this year, putting him in the 29th percentile. That's less than half of his walk rate from 2022 to 2024, which was an astonishing 14.2%.
That low walk rate is especially concerning for Casas, as his plate discipline is probably his best offensive asset. It allows him to get on base even when he's in a slump, a valuable skill. However, the sharp decline in his walk rate, coupled with overall poor quality of contact, has produced a brutal start to 2025 for the Red Sox's starting first baseman.
After being the subject of constant trade rumors this offseason, the Red Sox ultimately stuck with Casas at first, even if it meant taking Rafael Devers off of the field after the Alex Bregman signing. That decision isn't looking great right about now, and there isn't an obvious answer to this problem.
One option would be to try and trade Casas and put Devers at first, leaving the DH spot open for Masataka Yoshida when he comes back. However, Casas' value probably won't be stellar right now, it's still early in the season, and he's a well-established slow starter. The Red Sox have enough offensive production elsewhere in the lineup to give Casas time to figure out whatever he's going through. Besides, it's not like Yoshida is exactly a sterling replacement for him in the lineup.