For the Boston Red Sox and their petulant fan base, this was the season lefty powerhouse Triston Casas was supposed to put it all together.
An injury cost the slugger four months of the 2024 season, and Boston hoped for a rebound. The lefty-centric lineup now has Alex Bregman and Trevor Story to provide a righty protection punch.
Early results were nightmarish. Casas, an established slow-starter, had three home runs and slashed .182/.277/.303 with 27 strikeouts in 29 games. His injury is season-ending, and the Red Sox need to find a replacement to take up first base.
The immediate, most obvious substitution was beaten to death over the offseason: moving Rafael Devers to first. That opens up the designated hitter slot for Masataka Yoshida (remember him?), but if it's ripe, low-hanging fruit, give Roman Anthony a call. Romy González has been filling in at the corner and may stay as long as he keeps playing solid.
The Red Sox have plenty of internal replacements for Triston Casas at first base
The Red Sox could turn to Worcester and bring up Vaughn Grissom, who has played five games at first and made two errors. As with Devers, that would be a defensive work in progress. Looking at the defensive metrics microscope, Casas (-4 DRS) was not the second coming of Doug Mientkiewicz.
There is also the bizarre, or is it the option of moving Trevor Story to first base and trading Casas. The trade object is now in the damaged goods department, but shifting Story is still possible with Marcelo Mayer arriving to take over shortstop, presumably in the near future.
There are the "They can play anywhere" guys with Kristian Campbell and Ceddanne Rafaela, so Alex Cora is saying, "Here, kid, take this mitt and go over to first." Rafaela is too good in the outfield and Boston isn't likely to completely change one of its top prospects' development paths, but anything is possible.
A term politicians love to use all too often is "troubling," and that is where Casas was just before his injury. Casas was trending in the same direction as Will Middlebrooks, Michael Chavis, and Bobby Dalbec. Casas' injury may have preempted a potential move internally or externally. Of course, the honest answer may be here.