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Red Sox’ Triston Casas will be ‘out for a while’ with rib fracture
"We just have to be patient now. Timetable, there’s none. This has to heal on its own."
The Red Sox are going to be without their slugging first baseman for the foreseeable future.
After undergoing additional testing in Boston, Triston Casas is expected to be “out for a while” with a rib fracture, according to Alex Cora.
Cora added that Casas is expected to return at some point during the 2024 season, but there is not a set timetable in place.
“Obviously, we had a pretty good idea a few days ago,” Cora said, as seen on NESN. “After all the tests in Boston, that’s what came out. We just have to be patient now. Timetable, there’s none. This has to heal on its own. We’ve just got to be patient.”
Casas exited Boston’s eventual 4-2 win over the Pirates on Saturday, with the 24-year-old first baseman wincing after fouling off a pitch during his first at-bat. He drew a walk during the at-bat, but was subsequently pulled from the game.
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Even before Casas was formally placed on the injured list Sunday afternoon, Cora offered an ominous outlook on the recovery timeline for his infielder.
“No, he’s not doing OK … we’re checking on him, we’ll know more over the course of the night,” Cora said on Saturday. “When he came in [to the dugout], he said ‘I can play defense, but you need somebody to hit for me.’”
Casas returned to Boston on Sunday to undergo further testing, which revealed the fracture in his rib. A rib fracture needs to heal on its own, so Casas’ return will be dependent on his own recovery and pain tolerance later this summer.
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“He’s still in a lot of pain. Hard to get rest that way. Obviously, disappointed, but this is what it is,” Cora said. “There’s nothing we can do. Whenever he’s ready, he’s ready.”
Losing Casas stands as a significant loss for the Red Sox, with the first baseman batting .244 with six home runs and 10 RBI so far this year. With Casas on the shelf, Cora added that the team plans to use Bobby Dalbec as its starting first baseman for the time being.
Even though Dalbec has some pop at the plate (46 career home runs), he’s also been hampered by poor plate discipline. The 28-year-old infielder is just 1-for-30 this season with 18 strikeouts.
“We’ve got Bobby here. He’s gonna play,” Cora said. “We’re gonna play him a lot. Obviously, the front office is studying the situation and looking around to see if we go somewhere else for that. Bobby’s a good defender. Bobby can hit the ball out of the ballpark. A lot of organizations, they can live with that. And we will.”
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