The Boston Red Sox's rising star first baseman Triston Casas was pulled from the team's April 20 game against the Pittsburgh Pirates and was later diagnosed with a fractured rib.
The Red Sox have not revealed how long Casas is expected to remain on the sidelines, but Alex Cora said he'll be out "a while" on the day his injury was announced.
A fractured rib is never good, but the injury has caused the Red Sox some trouble in the past. Casas' wound is unfortunately reminiscent of a former Red Sox who battled the same issue — Jacoby Ellsbury.
John Tomase, the Red Sox insider for NBC Sports Boston, likened the two injuries, to the chagrin of Sox fans everywhere. Not because he's wrong to do so, but because Ellsbury only played 12 games after his broken rib.
Shades of Jacoby Ellsbury in 2010?@jtomase explains why Triston Casas' injury is a massive loss for an already undermanned Red Sox club 🔽https://t.co/VChPZO6BC7
— NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSBoston) April 23, 2024
Casas has already beaten Ellsbury's figure. He played 22 games before he was pulled in mid-April. But, as Tomase pointed out, the state of the 2024 Red Sox team is vastly different than the 2010 squad that Ellsbury left.
Fourteen years ago, Boston had plenty of proven offensive talent to make up for the lost plate production from the rising star outfielder. Adrián Beltré, Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz were among the stars at Fenway.
Red Sox fans should hope Triston Casas recovers from his rib injury faster than Jacoby Ellsbury did in 2010
In 2024, the Red Sox lack star power, and Casas was one of the few studs on the team going into the season. Few expected Tyler O'Neill to have the year he's been having, but recent injuries have fans worried about him, as well. Rafael Devers, the face of the Red Sox franchise and Boston's other power bat, was also injured for a spell that overlapped with Casas' absence. The third baseman has dealt with three injuries already in the 2024 campaign, and he's missed more games than he sat last year.
If Casas' recovery takes as long as Ellsbury's did, the Red Sox are in for a long season. The young first baseman was betting on himself to collect a sizable contract extension this year, so hopefully he makes it back to the lineup in time to help his squad and himself.