Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas is resting at his Boston home after undergoing what the team described as a “successful” surgical repair of his ruptured left patellar tendon at Mass General Hospital on Sunday.
Casas suffered the injury during last Friday’s game against the Minnesota Twins. The Red Sox know his season is over, but beyond that his manager said Tuesday that he wasn’t sure how long the journey back will be. It’s unclear if Casas will be ready to participate in spring training 2026 at all; there’s a possibility he could miss a significant chunk of next season, as well.
The first step is rest and recovery from the surgery, which his manager said isn’t going so well.
“I talked to him today,” Cora said before the series opener with the visiting Texas Rangers. “In pain, a lot of pain. It’s been a challenge to sleep. But for how bad it is, it wasn’t the worst-case scenario. That’s what he expressed to me, that’s what the doctor said.”
When Casas missed over three months of the ‘24 season with a rib cartilage injury, he spent most of that time in Boston. He was at nearly every home stand, and even wore his spikes in the dugout as if he could be called upon to pinch-hit.
It’s different this time around, as this injury required surgery. Cora wasn’t sure when Casas will be able to come back to the ballpark. For now, the Sox are going to him. Cora said their trainers were going over “to clean up his stitches, all that stuff” this week.
In Casas’ absence, Romy Gonzalez and Abraham Toro are platooning at first base. Toro made his Red Sox debut as a pinch-hitter on Sunday, and was in Tuesday’s starting lineup for the series opener against the visiting Texas Rangers.
“(When I) saw him from afar, from the other side, a good at-bat, good defender, versatile,” Cora said of his first impressions of Toro, who debuted with the Houston Astros in ‘19, and also played for the Seattle Mariners, Milwaukee Brewers, and Oakland A’s in his first six MLB seasons before signing a minor-league deal with Boston during the offseason. “He has a pretty good idea, offensively; he knows what he wants to do. He hunts pitches in certain areas and he executes. He’s patient enough that he can slow it down, and he did an amazing job in spring training, got off to a great start in Triple-A.”
“You sign those guys in the offseason for situations like this,” Cora said. “He’s a big leaguer in a championship-caliber team. He’s been in organizations that have struggled, others have been good. He’s been part of that. … One of the reasons you sign these guys is, if something happens, you can count on them. They can come here and contribute, and that’s what we expect from him.”
With the front office exploring long-term options for first base, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow didn’t explicitly rule out a Rafael Devers experiment when taking questions on Saturday. That topic continues to be a non-starter with his manager, though.
In fact, Cora’s pregame session on Tuesday was not unlike the slugger’s first media availability of spring training, when he gave the same one-word answer to several queries about his future at third base. Asked if he and his new designated hitter have had any conversations about first base, Cora said, “No.”
Does the manager plan to have any? “No.”